


Kitty and the Stray

by Dark Star Of Chaos (DarkDecepticon)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cats, Angst, Fluff, Gift Giving, Grooming, Humanformers, Humor, Implied/Referenced Cruelty to Animals, M/M, Nonverbal Communication, Romance, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, catformers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDecepticon/pseuds/Dark%20Star%20Of%20Chaos
Summary: Skyfire has everything a housecat could want: food, toys, and even a personal groomer. But being alone in the house for most of the day also has him very lonely. So when a stray cat adds Skyfire's yard to his territory, Skyfire is only too happy to let him. But summer won't last forever, and the household human doesn't like Starscream hanging around. Now Skyfire has to get Starscream inside and convince Prowl to let him stay, before winter's arrival leaves him alone once more.
Relationships: Skyfire/Starscream
Comments: 54
Kudos: 107
Collections: Skystar Secret Santa 2020





	1. A Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Justaway_Ninja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justaway_Ninja/gifts).



> A gift fic written for the SkyStar Secret Santa exchange! Justaway_Ninja requested human or housecat Skyfire gaining the trust of stray cat Starscream, and I opted for housecat for shippy reasons. I had so much fun writing this, and I hope you get the same enjoyment from reading it, Ninja! This prompt was awesome.
> 
> Story notes: A clowder is a group of cats. I have also taken a few creative liberties with the spectrum of colors cats can see.
> 
> Enjoy!

Skyfire lay sprawled on his side, purring as fingers scratched behind his ears. A brush tugged gently at the thick ruff of fur around his neck and the fingers followed, nudging under his collar to rub areas he couldn’t easily reach on his own. The brush travelled down his back and side in short, soothing strokes. He shut his eyes, tail flicking slowly in contentment.

All too soon, the grooming ended. Skyfire rolled onto his belly with a quick shake of his head, resettling his fur, then looked expectantly up at the red-furred human queen sitting next to him.

“What?” she asked. “What do you need?”

Skyfire shook himself again and stood, following Firestar’s hand so he could rub against the brush she still held.

“Oh, did I miss a spot?” Firestar pulled the brush out of reach and held a hand above Skyfire, then tapped her fingers together. Skyfire meowed plaintively.

“Come on,” Firestar coaxed. “Come get it.”

Skyfire obligingly rose up on his hind legs, and was rewarded by fingers scratching his neck.

“There you go!” Firestar set the brush down as Skyfire dropped back to four paws, and raised her other hand to scratch his chest as well. “What a good boy you are.”

Skyfire leaned heavily into Firestar’s hand and rubbed his head against her arm, continuing to purr. She smelled of other cats, but he was used to that. The only thing he cared about was the grooming and attention, and he wanted her to stay as long as possible.

“All right, all right. You’re going to fall over.” Firestar removed her hands carefully, but Skyfire still stumbled when the support was gone. He let himself fall, rolling onto his back while Firestar laughed.

“What did I tell you?” she asked. She picked up the brush, which was full of long white fur, and held it out to him. “Look at this. Look how much you’re shedding.”

Skyfire hugged the brush with his forelegs and rubbed his jaw against the blunt-tipped bristles. Unlike Firestar, this was very much  _ his _ brush, and he wanted to keep his scent fresh. Besides that, it felt good.

Firestar tugged lightly on the brush. Skyfire tightened his grip, tail flicking more quickly in excitement. Firestar didn’t often play with him before she left.

She passed the brush to her other hand, then reached up and scratched between his ears. Skyfire released the brush and twisted away from the offending hand, getting his paws back under him. Firestar stood, taking the brush with her. Skyfire sat up on his haunches, swiping at it as it rose out of reach.

“You have way too much energy,” Firestar told him. She moved away and Skyfire trotted after her, eyes fixed on the brush.

“Just look at all this fur,” Firestar continued, peeling the white mat out of the bristles. “I could make another cat with this.”

Skyfire tilted his head and meowed. Another cat?

“That’s right,” Firestar said. “A whole ‘nother cat.”

She tossed the fur into a can and set the brush on a table. Skyfire rubbed his body against the can and purred. He wouldn’t mind having another cat around.

“Okay,” Firestar said. “It looks like you still have crunchies, so I’m going to head out.”

Skyfire followed her down a hallway to the door that led to the outside, mewing as pitifully as he could to protest her departure. It never worked, but he couldn’t help trying. They didn’t even have to play; he would be happy to curl up in a warm lap and just bask in the company.

Firestar stopped by the door and turned back to him, bracing her hands on her knees. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Did you not get enough love?”

Skyfire meowed a confirmation, rubbing his cheek encouragingly against her fingers. Firestar knelt in front of him and took his head in her hands, scratching under his collar on both sides. He leaned to one side, closing his eyes in bliss.

“There you go,” Firestar said. “So much love for the kitty.”

She pressed her mouth between his ears then stood up. Skyfire immediately meowed again, purring his request for her to stay.

“Insatiable,” Firestar laughed. She opened the door and sidestepped through, one foot extended to keep Skyfire from following any further. “I’ll be back on Friday. Be a good kitty for me, okay?”

Skyfire meowed once more, but the door was already clicking shut behind her, leaving him alone. He stood motionless in the hallway and watched the door, waiting even though he knew Firestar wouldn’t be back. Not right after leaving, at least. After a few moments he let his upraised tail dip and made his way back down the hall, his purr fading into silence.

He returned to the room they’d just left, pausing by the rubber mat where his food dishes waited. Finding only dry pellets, he turned away to wander the room. Toy mice and shiny, crinkly balls were strewn on the floor, but he didn’t feel like playing anymore. It was no fun alone. He brushed past a multi-platformed cat tower, pausing to half-heartedly sharpen his claws on one of the supports, then continued on to leap onto a window sill.

The world outside was bright and sunny. Mottled patches of light and dark shifted slowly on the yard as an unfelt breeze blew through the trees. Skyfire could hear rustling leaves, bird calls, and the distant bark of a dog. It was the perfect sort of day to climb a tree, or to lie in the cool grass and watch the world pass by.

But even if Skyfire had been free to go outside, he wasn’t sure he would have taken advantage of it. What good was a perfect day if there was no one to share it with?

  
  


Skyfire was still sitting in the window when, as the sky began to darken, he heard the front door open again. He left the window immediately and dashed for the door, his tail sweeping up in an excited plume. The pale, brown-furred human tom Skyfire shared the house with was already inside, a paper bag braced on one hip as he shut the door behind him. Skyfire meowed an enthusiastic greeting.

“Yes, hello, Jetfire,” Prowl sighed. He sounded tired, like he often did when he returned from the human clowder he called ‘work’. Skyfire had never figured out why anyone would need a second clowder, but he was used to the weariness, and to the incorrect name humans addressed him by. He ignored it all in favor of welcoming Prowl back to his proper clowder, rubbing against his legs to replace the scent of the other humans with that of the household.

Prowl nudged him with a foot. “Move,” he ordered. Skyfire leaned against the leg in question, purring, and Prowl sighed.

“If I step on you, it’s your fault,” he said, shuffling around Skyfire. Skyfire mewed and darted past him, leading the way to the kitchen. Paper bags meant food, and he knew where food was stored.

He also knew he wasn’t allowed on the counter. So when Prowl set the bag there, Skyfire expressed his interest by stretching up on his hind legs, forepaws braced on a cupboard door. He meowed to make sure Prowl was aware of him, and watched attentively as cans and other items emerged from the bag.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Prowl said. He pulled the top off one of the cans, filling the air with the aroma of chicken and gravy. Skyfire dropped back to the floor and trotted to the sitting room, where his food dishes waited.

He resumed rubbing and purring while Prowl spooned chicken on top of the dry pellets in the bowl, asking for company as nicely as he knew how. Prowl straightened when he was done, but Skyfire lingered by his legs, staring up at him.

“Well, go on, then,” Prowl said, gesturing at the bowl with the can. “It’s the same brand as always, so there’s no reason for you to turn up your nose at it.”

Skyfire turned his gaze to the food, but didn’t move.

“Here, look.” Prowl held the gravy-coated spoon in front of Skyfire, who sniffed it curiously. “There, you see? It’s the same food I always buy.”

Skyfire looked back up at Prowl and meowed. He knew it was the usual food, but he  _ didn’t _ know if Prowl would stay with him while he ate. That was the problem.

“I’m not giving you something else,” Prowl said, clearly not understanding. “If you’re tired of chicken we can do tuna next time, but you’re finishing this can first.”

He headed back towards the kitchen. Skyfire followed him, yowling in protest.

“What?” Prowl asked impatiently. “Do you want to go outside?” He moved towards the front door and Skyfire trailed after him. “All right, let’s go outside, then.”

Those words were a lie. Prowl rarely went outside with him. But Skyfire followed him to the door, where Prowl slid the metal cover off the cat flap. Warm summer air seeped in around the edges of the flap, bringing the scent of grass and trees with it.

“There you go,” Prowl said. “Have fun.”

He returned once more to the kitchen. This time Skyfire stayed behind, staring forlornly after his housemate. He didn’t understand why Prowl would rather spend all day with the human work clowder than stay with him for just a little while so he didn’t have to eat alone. Was Prowl’s real clowder not enough for him?

It was a depressing thought. Skyfire pushed through the cat flap, not bothering to raise his tail again once he had stepped out onto the porch.

The world had fallen into twilight, replacing the vibrant colors of the yard with softer shades. A few birds still sang in the trees, but the sounds had largely been replaced by the chirping of crickets. Somewhere in the distance, a lawnmower growled.

Skyfire paused, scenting the air. There was a trace of the raccoon who sometimes came around the house, but it wasn’t strong enough to be concerned about. The scent of another tomcat was stronger. A stray passing through, maybe; either hunting or avoiding the raccoon. If the tom was still around, he was upwind from Skyfire, and probably not as close as he seemed to be.

Skyfire leaped onto the porch railing, where he could get a clear view of his territory, then froze.

There was a cat in the yard, sitting at the base of a tree. A small, creamy short-hair with dark face, legs, and tail. It - he - wore no collar, and his fur was rumpled, though he was wiping his head carefully with a paw. He didn’t seem to have noticed Skyfire yet, despite how clearly Skyfire’s white fur stood out from his surroundings.

Slowly, Skyfire drew his legs under him and crouched on the rail, watching the tom. How long had it been since he’d been this close to another cat? There had been a cat show earlier that summer, but he hadn’t had an opportunity to visit the other participants then. And this one looked young; not even full grown. He probably was old enough to mate, but Skyfire had never had any interest in queens, so that didn’t bother him. He had a steady supply of food too, so he could think of no reason to drive this tom away.

Maybe he was friendly, or lonely like Skyfire was. His scent didn’t carry traces of other cats, or of humans. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if Skyfire got closer.

Skyfire hesitated for a few moments, then jumped down from the railing and into the grass. The tom’s head jerked up. Red eyes locked onto Skyfire, who held himself still, body low to the ground in an effort to look less intimidating. The tom was motionless as well, one paw still raised as though he might return to his bath. Now that he had stopped moving, Skyfire could see that the fur above one eye was matted, and there was a nick in the ear on the same side. The breeze carried a faint tang of blood.

Skyfire creeped closer, ears held carefully at a non-threatening angle and gaze directed past the other cat. The tom lowered his paw and huddled close to the ground, a quiet growl building in his chest. He was clearly in pain, and wanted to be left alone to tend his injury. But he wasn’t retreating, or moving to attack. Skyfire edged a little closer, then stopped when the tom’s growl grew louder.

When the sound faded, Skyfire slowly sat down and stared out over the lawn. On his periphery he saw the tom shift, and another low growl followed. Skyfire stayed still, watching him as subtly as he could. He didn’t want to scare the little tom away, but he didn’t want to be attacked, either. He began to purr softly, hoping to calm him, and the growl faded once more.

The tom shifted again, then turned his face away from Skyfire, silently accepting his presence. Skyfire waited for a few breaths, then looked back at him. The tom was still studying Skyfire out the corners of his eyes, but for now, the threat had passed.

Skyfire eased himself back to his paws and resumed his approach, maintaining a soothing purr. The tom watched him, ears angled in discomfort, but didn’t growl again.

Finally, Skyfire was close enough that he could have stretched out a foreleg and touched his visitor. He couldn’t see any blood besides the matting on the tom’s head, but he knew a cat could get sick from untended injuries, and that head wounds were hard to clean without help. Would the tom tolerate assistance from a stranger?

There was only one way to find out. Skyfire closed the last of the distance between them, still purring, and lowered his head to sniff the tom’s injury. The torn ear flicked, but the tom didn’t move. His fur smelled of fear, and more faintly of raccoon. Skyfire’s own ears tilted back. He swiped his tongue over the top of the tom’s head a few times, communicating his intentions, then slowly moved down to the matted fur when he wasn’t rebuked.

The tom stayed surprisingly still while Skyfire cleaned his face. He was definitely young, but not as much so as Skyfire had initially thought. His small size seemed to be at least partly a result of how thin he was. If that raccoon had been the one to hurt him, maybe they were competing for food. He didn’t smell sick, though; at least, not that Skyfire could tell. He actually smelled kind of good. Skyfire wanted to bury his nose in his fur and familiarize himself with every nuance of the tom’s warm, bark-and-grass scent.

He didn’t have that luxury, though. He gave the tom a final lick, then leaned back, allowing him to move away if he wanted to.

The tom was quick to put distance between them. He stopped a few body-lengths away and shook himself, then twisted to lick his own side, even though Skyfire had never touched him there. The message that he didn’t want to share scents with a stranger couldn’t have been more clear, but despite that, Skyfire felt elated. This little tom had allowed him to get close and help, even though they didn’t know each other. They might be strangers now, but maybe they didn’t have to stay that way. Maybe Skyfire had found a friend after all.

He kept his distance, watching as the tom finished fussing with his fur. It only took a moment, and then the tom darted away. But the fact that he had stayed as close as he had, even briefly, was gratitude enough for Skyfire.

The tom paused next to the fence that enclosed the yard, looking back at Skyfire. Then he squeezed through the narrow space under the gate and was gone.


	2. Getting to Know You

Skyfire saw the tom several times over the days that followed. Not face to face, but the little cat often entered the yard while Skyfire was sitting in the window, to lie in the shade under a bush or to hunt bugs in the grass. Skyfire liked to think the tom was hoping to see him again, just as he hoped the tom would be there in the evening again some time. But even if he only kept coming back because he felt safe there, it was good enough for Skyfire. Anything that kept the tom coming back was good enough.

If Prowl had noticed Skyfire’s newfound interest in going outside in the evenings, he didn’t comment on it. But Skyfire thought he now understood a little better why Prowl spent so much time with the human work clowder. If he could have spent the whole day outside waiting for the tom, he wouldn’t come home until darkness fell either.

Finally, the day came when the tom slid under the yard gate while Skyfire was loafing on the porch steps. Skyfire’s immediate impulse was to run up and greet him the way he would greet Prowl, but he held himself back, wary once again of scaring the smaller cat away. He stayed where he was instead, watching as the tom sniffed his way along the fence. His tail was low and relaxed, and his movements unhurried. As before, he seemed not to have noticed Skyfire yet.

The tom paused suddenly and stood straighter, eyes on the ground in front of him. One paw darted out, trying to catch something in the grass, and the other quickly followed as whatever it was moved. The tom turned his head sharply, eyes wide and tail lashing as he tracked his prey. He gathered his paws under him and pounced, landing on his belly with his forelegs stretched out in front of him.

Watching him, Skyfire couldn’t help the slow purr that built in his chest. It was good to see the tom enjoying himself when he'd been hurt the last time their paths crossed. He was still very thin - maybe too thin? - but he didn’t seem to be suffering any lasting difficulty from his injury.

The tom sat up, apparently done playing, and their eyes met.

The tom froze, staring hard at Skyfire. Skyfire responded with a lazy blink and looked away, assuring the little cat that he wasn’t concerned by his presence. After a few moments the tom began to move again, prowling back into Skyfire’s line of sight. He was still watching Skyfire, and his movements were cautious, but there was no hostility in his stance.

Finally, the tom lowered his head and resumed sniffing through the grass, accepting that he wasn’t going to be driven off. Every so often he paused to look at Skyfire, and every time Skyfire just blinked calmly back at him. The tension gradually left the tom’s body until he was moving as easily as he had been when he first arrived, though he showed no interest in approaching Skyfire.

Would he object if Skyfire went to him? Skyfire didn’t want to scare him, but nor did he want to just hang back and watch now that he was finally outside with the tom. He had done plenty of watching through the window already.

He stood and arched his back in a stretch, then resettled sitting upright. The tom was looking at him again, but it was with the same alertness he’d had when he was playing: interested but unafraid. Once again, Skyfire simply blinked at him, and the tom soon returned to the grass.

Skyfire gave it a little longer, then ventured down into the grass as well. As before, the tom’s attention shifted back to him, and Skyfire raised his tail in greeting. The tom didn’t respond in kind, but a slight, nervous arch of his back was the only sign of protest as Skyfire slowly approached.

When there was only a few body-lengths left between them, the tom took a cautious step towards Skyfire, whiskers twitching as he scented the air. Skyfire came to a stop, allowing the tom to cover the last of the ground between them if he wanted to. And he did, one slow step at a time, until they were close enough that their whiskers brushed together.

Skyfire held still for a few moments while the tom sniffed his face, then slowly lowered his head to return the favor. He resisted the urge to go straight for the tom’s wound, even though he wanted to check on it, and took the time to greet his new maybe-friend properly. Only when he was sure it would be all right did he investigate the twin lines that marred the tom’s fur.

As far as he could tell, the scratches were healing well. There was no scent of infection or sickness, and the tom was doing a decent job of keeping them clean, considering he couldn’t reach them properly. It was tempting to give them another lick, just to make sure, but Skyfire held himself back again.

The tom edged closer, scenting Skyfire’s shoulder, then down his side to his flank. Skyfire took the invitation to do the same, and confirmed his initial suspicion that this cat lived alone. He had no trace of a clowder scent, either with cats or humans. But he didn’t seem too put out by Skyfire’s own clowder scent either. Perhaps he had lived with humans as a kitten, and remembered it well enough that it seemed normal to him.

Up close, it was unsettling how thin he was. Skyfire had watched sleek cats through his window before, but this seemed unhealthy. Did the tom have trouble finding food? Or was he just lonely and uninterested in eating like Skyfire was?

The tom continued past Skyfire to sniff the base of his tail, and once again, Skyfire mimicked him. As he had thought, the tom was of mating age, though there was no indication that he’d been with a queen recently. That came as no surprise, considering his apparent solitude. Skyfire ignored this information in favor of focusing on the tom’s personal scent, which was especially strong here. It was musky and sharp, and Skyfire wanted to commit every nuance of the tom’s name-scent to memory.

Starscream. His name was Starscream.

Skyfire barely had time to register that before the front door creaked open behind him. Starscream pulled away immediately, circling to put space between them, then paused to look back. His body was low to the ground, but his head was high, and his eyes were fixed beyond Skyfire. Skyfire followed his gaze to where Prowl stood on the porch.

“Get out of here, you!” Prowl ordered, his voice louder than usual.

Skyfire turned back to Starscream, who dashed for the fence. He stopped there to look towards the house again, and Skyfire started after him at a more sedate pace, trying not to scare him further. He didn’t want to lose his new friend now, when they had barely introduced themselves.

“Jetfire, get away from her!”

Skyfire paused at the sound of his improper name, but it was confusion that pulled his gaze back to Prowl. He’d known that humans didn’t have a good sense of smell, but he would have thought they could at least tell a tom from a queen.

Something pale moved on the edge of his vision, and he turned his head to see Starscream running for the gate. Footsteps vibrated through the ground as Prowl approached Skyfire, but he stayed where he was until Starscream slid out of the yard. Then he rounded on his human clowder-mate with an angry yowl, tail lashing.

“You don’t have to yell,” Prowl scolded. “I know exactly what you were up to, and I don’t need a stray hanging around here. She probably has fleas, or worse.”

Skyfire yowled again, unappeased. He didn’t care if Starscream had fleas as long as he liked Skyfire and was willing to spend time with him. If he even came back after Prowl yelled at him.

“All right, you’re going back inside,” Prowl said. He nudged Skyfire with a foot, and Skyfire pivoted away with yet another indignant cry. “Go on. In the house.”

Skyfire trotted obediently back to the porch, but his tail didn’t stop its angry lashing. At the door he stopped and returned to the top of the porch steps, yowling once more to make sure his point had been made.

“In,” Prowl ordered, pointing at the door for emphasis. Skyfire turned with a swish of his tail and pushed through the flap, then trotted down the hall to the sitting room. There, he leaped to the top platform of his cat tower and lay down with a huffy flop. He glared down at the room, ears angled out and tail flicking, until Prowl entered.

“Are you seriously going to lie up there and sulk because I drove that cat away?” Prowl asked.

Skyfire gave an extra-hard lash of his tail.

“Be that way, then. The door is closed, so you’re staying inside for the rest of the evening.”

Prowl returned the way he’d come, leaving Skyfire alone in the growing darkness. Skyfire redirected his glare to the window and stared out at the twilight, wondering where Starscream went when he wasn’t in Skyfire’s yard.

  
  


After Prowl drove Starscream away, Skyfire didn’t expect to be let outside the next evening. So it was a surprise - albeit a pleasant one - when Prowl removed the cat flap cover like he always did after getting home. Skyfire wasted no time in heading down to the tree where he had seen Starscream that first night, looking for some sign that he’d come back. He hadn’t seen any trace of Starscream that day, even though he’d spent all his time in the window, and it worried him. Prowl hadn’t scared him away completely, had he?

The tree provided no answers. Skyfire tried the gate instead, and his tail flicked up in excitement when he caught a whiff of a familiar scent. It was on one of the gate posts, announcing to the world that Starscream had, in fact, been here. Not very long ago, either. It was probably just a warning to other cats, but Skyfire couldn’t help a stirring of hope that this message had been meant for  _ him _ . Maybe Starscream was telling him that he would be back.

Skyfire pressed himself flat to the ground and tilted his head this way and that, studying the narrow gap under the gate. He had never considered getting out of the yard this way, and it didn’t look like he would be able to if he tried. There wasn’t enough room for him.

He sat up and shook the dirt from his fur, then sniffed the gate post again. Even if he didn’t get to see Starscream today, it made him feel a little better to know that he’d been there, and had left proof of his presence. Maybe if Skyfire waited for a little while, he would come back this evening.

Skyfire conducted a brief search of the yard, including the bushes near the window where Starscream often napped during the day, then returned to the tree where he’d started. He climbed up onto a low branch where he could see over the fence and stared out at the street, watching for any sign of a small, pale-furred tom.

  
  


It took three evenings before Skyfire saw Starscream again. It was late afternoon when he came to settle down under the bushes, and the wait to go outside and meet up with him was the longest Skyfire could remember ever enduring. But Prowl finally got home and opened the door, and Skyfire went straight for the bushes.

Starscream was still there, curled in a grassy hollow that had begun to form with regular use. At first glance he seemed to be asleep, but as Skyfire drew near, he raised his head. Skyfire lifted his tail in greeting, but Starscream remained tense and motionless, staring at him. There was no aggression in his posture, though; only the quiet wariness that had accompanied their last two encounters. It wasn’t too surprising, really, when their most recent interaction had ended with Starscream being chased away.

Skyfire stopped walking, unsure how to proceed, but kept his tail up in a promise that he meant no harm. After a moment, Starscream rolled back to his paws and huddled on the ground, his own tail flicking restlessly. He wasn’t staring quite so intently as he had been, but the fur on his back was ruffled slightly in displeasure. Maybe he really had been asleep, and Skyfire had awoken him.

Skyfire lowered his head and gaze apologetically, but crept closer, still too excited to keep his distance. Despite his irritation, Starscream stretched up to tap noses with him, though his ears tilted back as he did so. Skyfire lowered himself to his belly so he would look smaller, and Starscream’s ears slowly shifted to a more relaxed angle.

When Skyfire was sure he wasn’t about to be smacked in the face, he eased himself just a little closer and sniffed Starscream’s nicked ear. It twitched, but Starscream stayed still and let Skyfire inspect him. He smelled annoyed, but the scratches were still free of infection, and looked almost healed to Skyfire. The urge to tend them rose again, but Starscream gave his head a sudden shake, and Skyfire backed off. He wanted Starscream to feel comfortable around him, and that was more important than cleaning a wound that didn’t really need it.

Starscream climbed slowly to his paws and began sniffing Skyfire’s face and neck. He was still tense, but his back fur had smoothed out, and his tail was twitching more slowly. Any agitation he still felt was apparently giving way to curiosity, and Skyfire was happy to let him satisfy it.

After a few moments, Starscream moved cautiously around to sit next to Skyfire, sniffing along his collar. He drew his head back and lifted a paw, looking uncertain. Skyfire began a soft purr, assuring him that everything was okay. Another few moments passed, then Starscream slowly lowered his paw again and dipped his nose back to Skyfire’s fur.

Skyfire shifted his weight, pulling his legs under him in a proper loaf. Starscream took a few steps away, arching his back slightly, but Skyfire just kept purring. Slowly, Starscream relaxed again, though he kept his distance, tail flicking. Skyfire watched him, blinking calmly to avoid staring too hard. He still seemed unsure; thrown off by the level of trust Skyfire was displaying, perhaps. Skyfire would probably have been wary too, if he had been used to living alone and a stranger was suddenly curling up at his paws like they had known each other since kittenhood.

Then again, Skyfire  _ was _ used to living alone - for most of the day, at least - and he was the stranger curling up at the paws of a cat he had met less than two weeks ago.

Starscream turned his head sharply, ears twitching. Skyfire mimicked him, and after a moment, heard the same thing Starscream must have: the whisper of something sliding over grass. He stood slowly, trying to pinpoint the source, but Starscream was once again the first to move. He stepped carefully toward the house, ears still twitching as he stalked the hidden thing, and Skyfire followed a few steps behind.

The grass moved, bending to the sides as something long and thin slid through. Both cats froze. When Starscream advanced again, he gave the thing a wide berth, though he didn’t take his eyes off the swaying grass. Skyfire hung back, tail swishing nervously.

Then the thing changed direction, and the fading daylight gleamed off a long, dark body. Skyfire hunched away from the snake and fluffed his fur slightly, mouth opening in a near-silent hiss. If he had been alone, he would have gone back inside and avoided it entirely, but it felt wrong to leave Starscream with it. Maybe he would back off too, when he realized what it was?

But no. Starscream had paused when the snake turned, but then he just kept following it, at an angle that, by accident or design, put him between it and Skyfire. He didn’t even look upset; wary, yes, but otherwise this could have been a normal hunt. And he was getting  _ closer _ to it, not merely tracking it.

Skyfire hissed aloud this time, warning Starscream away from it. An ear flicked in his direction, but Starscream’s focus remained entirely on the snake. What was he doing? Surely he’d seen what he was stalking by now?

The snake stopped moving. Starscream didn’t, though he did slow his approach. Then, to Skyfire’s alarmed disbelief, he extended a paw and batted at the snake. It slithered a few pawsteps away from him, then stopped again. Starscream followed almost casually, as though he did this every day, and it occurred to Skyfire that maybe he did. If not  _ every _ day, then at least often enough that snakes didn’t scare him.

It was almost awe-inspiring, if Skyfire ignored the fear that Starscream would be bitten.

Starscream approached the snake from the side, and was practically on top of it when he finally, suddenly lunged. It was a small movement, just a quick dart of his head, but when he straightened, the snake hung from his mouth like a kitten scruffed by its mother. The snake’s long body thrashed, but it couldn’t twist around and attack.

Starscream turned to Skyfire with the thing still trapped in his mouth. Skyfire backed away, all the more unsettled by the snake’s unnatural movements now that it was flailing. Starscream flicked an ear, then calmly walked past Skyfire, taking the snake with him.

Skyfire trailed after Starscream from what he judged to be a safe distance and tried to ignore the snake’s wiggling. It didn’t take long to realize that Starscream was heading for the gate, and though Skyfire was sorry to see him leaving, he was considerably less sorry to see the snake gone. Though if it was about to become Starscream’s next meal, Skyfire was also sorry that he had to resort to such measures to survive.

At the gate Starscream paused and looked back at Skyfire. Somehow, the snake had managed to tie itself into a knot, and now hung from Starscream’s mouth like nothing more than a tangled piece of string. Skyfire wasn’t sure whether it was more or less disturbing that way, though he was glad it had stopped thrashing.

Starscream blinked once, then slid under the gate with his prize.

Skyfire went back inside after Starscream left, too nervous to stay in the yard in case there were more snakes around. He found Prowl on the couch with the TV on, and immediately leaped into his lap, purring a request for comfort. Thankfully, while Prowl grumbled about having to get up, he raised a hand to Skyfire’s side instead, and smoothed fur that was still fluffed with anxiety. Skyfire gradually relaxed, and even laid his head on Prowl’s other arm as he calmed down, relishing in the rare moment of attention.

It ended too soon, as it always did. Prowl eventually heaved Skyfire from his lap and left him on the couch, in the warm spot that remained. Skyfire didn’t stay long once he was alone, and traded the couch for the window sill where he spent most of his time these days.

He couldn’t have said what drew his gaze down to the bushes; whether it was the flicker of movement, the flash of pale fur, or simple longing. Whatever it was, he realized almost immediately that Starscream had returned and now lay under the bushes once more, head bobbing as he calmly groomed himself.


	3. A Gift For Starscream

After the encounter with the snake, Skyfire couldn't stop thinking about Starscream's diet, and how much of it consisted of reptiles. It certainly wasn't a normal thing or Skyfire would have smelled it on him by now, but did he really have to resort to that? Was food that hard to find for a cat living alone?

It made him feel bad about how little he ate of his own food. But he also wished there was a way he could take it out to Starscream, who definitely needed it more. He considered taking a few dry pellets out in his mouth to see if Starscream would eat them, but what would he do if the answer was yes? Skyfire couldn't make enough trips to feed a cat without Prowl noticing, and he had already yelled at Starscream once. Skyfire couldn't lead Starscream to his food dish without Prowl seeing him either, even if Starscream was willing to follow him inside. Which he probably wasn't, when they still barely knew each other.

He did seem to have figured out when Skyfire was allowed outside, though. And more importantly, he seemed to want to see him again. The day after Starscream carried the snake away, he was back, and he once again allowed Skyfire to get close to him. He was still hesitant and watchful, but he didn't seem to mind having Skyfire around. It gave Skyfire hope that one day Starscream would be as happy to see him as he was to see Starscream.

But he couldn't stop worrying about how much - or how little - Starscream ate. He seemed energetic enough for now, but what if the day came when he was too weak to hunt? What if Skyfire came out one evening and Starscream was sick with hunger, or didn't come at all because he was curled up alone somewhere? What if he  _ died _ and Skyfire had no way of knowing why he'd stopped coming?

He couldn't let that happen. He had to show Starscream that the yard was a safe place, and that Skyfire would help him if he needed it. But what could be done to convince him?

The only thing Skyfire could think of was to provide food. But that just brought him back to the dilemma of how to do that.

Inspiration struck one afternoon while Skyfire was sitting in the window, watching a bird hop around in the grass. He could  _ hunt _ for Starscream. He'd never caught anything before, but he'd never seriously tried either, when all the food he needed was provided for him. If he did his best, he was sure he could get something.

As soon as he was released from the house that evening, he searched the yard for birds.There were fewer around this late in the day, but they were still easy enough to find as long as he didn’t stay in the same place for too long.

Actually catching one, as it turned out, was another matter entirely.

Skyfire dismissed his first failed attempt as a practice run; he hadn’t hunted in a while, that was all. He would do better when he was warmed up. But a second failure quickly followed the first, and another came after that. Much as he considered himself a patient cat, he was quickly getting frustrated.

He took his time with the next bird. He hung back, pretending to ignore it while watching out the corner of his eye. It was under a bush, moving around with its awkward little hops and scooping whatever it ate from the ground with quick darts of its head. Skyfire couldn’t tell if it knew he was there, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be able to just fly away if the sky was blocked by branches. He could get this one, if he was fast. Surely he could.

Finally, he could wait no longer. He stood slowly and began to stalk towards the bush, doing his best to make as little noise as possible. The bird continued to hop and peck, seemingly oblivious.

Skyfire took a slow breath, scenting the air, and eased forward another step. He could do this. It was for Starscream; he  _ had _ to do this.

The bird paused and looked around. Panic flared in Skyfire’s chest and he dashed towards it as quickly as he could while staying quiet.

Then the bird left the ground with a quick flutter of wings, and landed amid the thicket of branches overhead. Skyfire halted his charge and stared up at it, tail lashing in frustration. There was no way he could get to it now.

He turned away from the bush, then went still. Starscream sat by the corner of the house, tail curled delicately over his forepaws, and he was watching Skyfire.

Frustration turned quickly to embarrassment. Starscream looked so elegant sitting there like that; so sleek, and with an air of grace that made Skyfire feel big and clumsy by comparison. If not for the scars on his face where the raccoon had clawed him, he would have looked every bit the pampered housecat Skyfire was.

But he wasn’t a pampered housecat. He was brave enough to stalk a snake, and quick enough to catch it. The kind of cat who had scars because he was smart or skilled enough to escape a worse fate.

And he had just watched Skyfire make a fool of himself.

Skyfire ducked his head, giving his chest fur a few awkward licks. He didn’t know what made him feel worse: that he had been unable to catch a bird for his new friend, or that his failure had been witnessed by said friend.

Starscream stood and sauntered toward Skyfire, tail held high. Under other circumstances Skyfire would have been delighted that Starscream was approaching him for the first time, and on a certain level he still was. But another part of him wished Starscream had shown up just a little later.

Skyfire shuffled back a few steps as Starscream came up to him, his own tail low and swishing. Starscream didn’t seem to care, and simply stretched his head up to touch noses with him. He smelled of amusement, and could probably pick up Skyfire’s embarrassment too, at this range. But after the brief greeting he just turned away, passing Skyfire to sniff around under the bush where the bird had been. Skyfire watched him, tail still flicking uncertainly.

He was being ignored. Starscream was ignoring him.

The flicker of joy he’d felt when Starscream came to him turned into a flame, banishing all traces of embarrassment. Being ignored meant that Starscream didn’t consider him a threat. This wild little tom had decided Skyfire was safe to be around, despite the difference in size between them.

Which might have had something to do with the fact that Skyfire had just proven himself to be an inept hunter. But that didn’t change the level of trust that Starscream had just bestowed on him.

Skyfire shook himself, making his collar tags jingle, then trotted after Starscream, tail sweeping up in a happy plume.

  
  


The days when Prowl stayed home instead of going to his other clowder were few and far between. He always uncovered the cat flap in the morning on those days, but Skyfire rarely took advantage of it, preferring to spend as much time as possible with his human. Meeting Starscream hadn’t changed that desire, so when the morning came that Prowl uncovered the flap, Skyfire lingered by the door only long enough to scent the cool morning air before following Prowl to the couch.

It was even more rare that Prowl would play with him without prompting, and today was no different. Skyfire carried a crinkly ball to the couch and batted it at Prowl, who absently nudged it away with a foot so he could chase it. After a while Skyfire lost interest in the toy and joined Prowl on the couch, kneading his leg and purring while fingers scratched behind his ears.

It was early afternoon when the doorbell rang. Skyfire lifted his head a moment before Prowl shifted under him, then jumped from the couch and trotted down the hall to the front door. He paused by the cat flap to catch the visitor’s scent, then pushed through when he recognized it. The human on the other side, a dark-skinned tom with black fur, looked down at him and grinned.

“Well, hey there, Jetfire,” Jazz said, shifting the flat box he held to one hand and reaching down to rub Skyfire’s ears with the other. “Are you happy to see me, or do you just smell the pizza?”

Skyfire meowed and reared up, rubbing his head briefly on Jazz’s leg before falling back to all fours. Jazz laughed and straightened.

“Yeah, I’m glad to see you too. Is that overworking master of yours at home?”

As though on cue, the doorknob above Skyfire’s head rattled. The door swung open, and Jazz held up the flat box. “Pizza delivery!”

“Lee.” Prowl spoke Jazz’s human name flatly. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s your day off, man,” Jazz said cheerfully. “I had to come by and make sure you weren’t finding more work to do instead of chilling out.”

Skyfire curled his tail around Jazz’s leg and meowed again, staring up at the flat box. It smelled like hot cheese and chicken.

“See, Jetfire agrees with me,” Jazz said.

“You should call before you just come over,” Prowl said, as calmly as though he hadn’t told Jazz that same thing a dozen times. “I could have had other plans.”

“Sure,” Jazz agreed. “But the fact that you  _ could _ have means you don’t. So?” He extended the box to Prowl. “Come on, I even got it without pineapple this time.”

Prowl sighed, then stepped aside so Jazz could enter the house. “You had better not give any of that to Jetfire this time either.”

“Relax,” Jazz said. “I brought something else along for Jetfire.”

Skyfire led the way to the kitchen, then circled back around to rub against Jazz’s legs again, watching carefully as the box exchanged hands.

“I’ll never understand why you can’t just eat pizza straight from the box,” Jazz said, bracing his hip against the counter and folding his arms. “It tastes better that way.”

“It tastes exactly the same,” Prowl replied, setting the box on a folded towel. “And plates don’t leave grease spots on the table.”

Jazz shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Prowl opened the box, and a wave of warm, savory fragrance wafted from the contents. Skyfire braced his forepaws on the side of the counter and meowed, pleading for a share of the bounty.

“Jetfire, get down,” Prowl ordered. “You know you’re not supposed to have cheese.”

Skyfire stretched up as high as he could, tail flicking. He knew Prowl  _ said _ he wasn’t supposed to have cheese, but he’d yet to hear a good reason why not.

“I’ve got something for you, Jetfire,” Jazz said, pulling away from the counter. He reached into a jacket pocket and Skyfire dropped back to the floor, trotting to Jazz with an eager mew. He sat down at his feet and watched intently as Jazz drew a clear bag from his pocket. There was a long stick of meat inside, and Skyfire gave another pleading meow.

“Here you go,” Jazz said, pulling the sausage from the bag and offering it to Skyfire. “I put some ice in the bag to keep it cold for you.”

Skyfire took one end of the sausage in his mouth and quickly moved to the doorway, fully aware that Prowl would take it away if he saw it. He settled there with his back to the kitchen and started eating, purring his contentment.

“Is that a hot dog?” Prowl asked disapprovingly. “You know I don’t want him eating things like that.”

“He’ll be fine,” Jazz said. “It’s just chicken and pork.”

“And enough salt for a jar of pickles,” Prowl replied. “It’s not good for him.”

Skyfire picked up the sausage again and left the room in search of a safer place to eat. But then his eyes fell on the front door, and excitement rushed through him.

Starscream. He had food that he could give to Starscream!

He shoved through the cat flap, all thoughts of eating the sausage himself forgotten. Starscream didn’t spend every afternoon in the yard, but he was there more often than not. Maybe he was there now.

Luck was on Skyfire’s side. He found Starscream sitting in the sun next to his favorite bush, idly washing his face. He paused and looked up when Skyfire drew near, and his whiskers twitched as he caught the scent of the sausage.

Skyfire dropped the sausage into the grass and sat down, batting it with a paw. Starscream slowly sank into a crouch and crept toward the sausage, then extended a paw and batted it as well. Skyfire purred encouragingly.

After a few moments, Starscream grabbed the sausage in his teeth and backed away, twisting to put his side to Skyfire. He dropped the gift and quickly started eating, watching Skyfire out the corner of his eye. Skyfire settled into a loaf and kept purring, closing his own eyes in quiet delight.

Starscream liked the food! He’d been able to feed Starscream!

It wasn't long before the sounds of sausage being consumed stopped. When Skyfire opened his eyes, he found Starscream sitting up and licking his chops. The sausage was gone.

Starscream began to groom himself again, but he had an air of satisfaction about him now. Skyfire edged towards him, still purring, and cautiously swept his tongue over the top of Starscream's head when he wasn't rebuked. Starscream paused to sniff Skyfire's neck, but allowed himself to be groomed.

Skyfire couldn’t believe it. He had expected a cat brave enough to catch a snake to reject grooming from another unless he initiated it personally. But Starscream was quietly accepting the submissive role, as though it was the most natural thing in the world to let Skyfire take charge. As though he hadn’t been wary of Skyfire just a few weeks prior.

Then something tugged at Skyfire's fur, and he slowly realized that Starscream was grooming  _ him _ . Returning the attention, not merely tolerating it.

Skyfire took advantage of the situation to check on Starscream’s scars, and felt something in himself relax now that he could finally lick them clean again. It was well past the time when they would have needed such tending, but after weeks of wanting to, it was a relief to finally do it. Starscream, meanwhile, seemed not to have any particular goal in mind, and simply focused on Skyfire’s neck. If he was still unsettled by Skyfire’s collar, he didn’t show it.

The situation was better than Skyfire would ever have dared to hope for. Already, he couldn’t imagine a life without Starscream in it. He didn’t  _ want _ to imagine it. But Starscream was an outdoor cat, and the weather wouldn’t stay warm forever. What would they do when winter came?

Starscream paused in his grooming to sniff Skyfire’s face, then looked around. He seemed to have picked up on Skyfire’s worry, but he didn’t know what was causing it.

Was he old enough to know about winter? If he had lived with humans as a kitten, he might have been inside during the last cold season, or had simply been too young to remember it now. He might not know what lay ahead for him if he continued to live outside.

Starscream looked back up at Skyfire, nose and ears twitching. Still searching for the cause of Skyfire’s distress. But there was nothing to find, and no way to explain winter to a cat who might have no memory of it.

If only there was a way to get Starscream inside, where he would be warm and safe. But Prowl didn’t even want Starscream in the yard, never mind in the house. It was possible that he would change his mind if he saw a little cat out in the snow, but even if he did, Skyfire didn’t want Starscream outside in that kind of weather in the first place.

The scrape of a window opening had both cats turning sharply to the house. Prowl himself stood on the other side, his face set in an angry grimace.

“Jetfire, you get away from that cat!” he shouted. Skyfire took a reflexive step back from Starscream, tail lashing anxiously. This was not the way to get Starscream inside for the winter.

He turned back to Starscream, who stood frozen, eyes still on the window. Unlike the last time Prowl drove him off, he didn’t look scared. Instead he was simply watchful, like he had been with the snake. Prowl couldn’t get to him while there was a wall between them, and he clearly knew it.

“Jetfire!” Prowl called again.

Starscream stood and stepped closer to Skyfire, tail high and flicking lazily. He stretched up, touching noses with him, and Skyfire was too stunned by his boldness to move away. Was he deliberately provoking Prowl?

“That damn cat,” Prowl growled, pulling back from the window. He vanished from sight, but Skyfire knew he was coming outside.

Starscream stepped back from Skyfire and shook out his fur, still blatantly unconcerned. Skyfire looked over his shoulder at the corner of the house, then back at Starscream, who casually turned and strolled under his bush. The leaves above cast dappled shadows over his coat, and he moved with a fluid grace reminiscent of the snake he had so carefully carried from the yard.

He was beautiful. And he wasn’t going to spend the winter outside if Skyfire could help it.


	4. Of Turkey and Veterinarians

Under ordinary circumstances, Skyfire liked being carried. It didn’t often happen because of his size, but when it did, he savored it.

Being carried inside because he’d been ‘misbehaving’, however, was far less enjoyable.

“What was that all about?” Jazz asked the moment Prowl entered the room with his arms full of Skyfire.

Prowl knelt with a grunt, placing Skyfire on the floor. Skyfire shook himself and trotted to the window, leaping up to see if Starscream had emerged from under the bush yet.

“I don’t want to risk Jetfire mating with random cats,” Prowl said. “Especially not strays.”

“He’s never shown an interest in the ladies before,” Jazz replied. “Don’t see why he’d start now.”

“Even if you’re right, he could still pick up fleas or diseases from a wild cat. I’m not taking any chances.”

“‘Course not. You never do,” Jazz agreed, though there was an odd note in his voice.

Skyfire turned his gaze to the humans. Prowl was using a roller to remove long white hairs from his shirt, while Jazz sat on the couch with his hands folded behind his head and eyes fixed on the ceiling. A plate of half-eaten pizza lay forgotten in his lap.

“I’ve spent a lot of money on that cat,” Prowl said. “Both to acquire him and to take care of him. I’m sorry if I want to keep him safe and healthy.”

Jazz lifted his head from his hands and looked at Skyfire, then lowered one hand over the arm of the couch. Skyfire turned toward him with a meow, all four paws bunched together near the edge of the window sill. Jazz tapped his fingers together and Skyfire jumped to the floor, then trotted over to Jazz, who absently scratched his ears.

“Have you considered that Jetfire might need more than just fancy food and expensive toys?” Jazz asked.

“He’s a cat,” Prowl replied. “What more could he need?”

“Maybe some company?” Jazz moved his plate to the side and patted his leg. Skyfire jumped into his lap and stretched out his neck, scenting the pizza. “You’re not exactly home much, Dilan,” Jazz continued, placing an arm between Skyfire and the plate. “Can you really blame him for wanting a friend to hang out with?”

“Jenny comes by to groom him three times a week, and he spends most of his time with me when I’m home,” Prowl said. “Considering cats spend more time asleep than awake, I don’t think he’s hurting for social interaction.”

“Yeah, but how much time do  _ you _ spend with  _ him?” _ Jazz asked. “Sittin’ with them is all well and good, but you got to play with them too.”

The hand not keeping Skyfire from the pizza ran down his back. He arched into it and leaned sideways, pressing against Jazz’s chest.

“When did you become an expert on cats?” Prowl asked.

Jazz made a small burst of noise that Skyfire had come to recognize as a human amusement sound. “The only cat I’d consider myself an expert on is this guy right here. And you’ve said he ain’t eating like he used to, so it’s only natural to think something’s wrong.”

“And your expert opinion is that he’s not eating because he’s lonely.”

Jazz looped an arm over Skyfire’s back and planted his hand against his chest, holding him in place while the other hand reached for the pizza. “Could also be he’s just tired of Fancy Feast. But it’s not hard to imagine that a cat as affectionate as Jetfire would get tired of being alone.”

He pulled a string of cheese from the pizza and rolled it into a ball between his fingers, then offered it to Skyfire. Skyfire licked the ball a few times, then delicately accepted it before Prowl could notice and take it away.

"Besides," Jazz added, "two cats don't cost much more than one. Pretty sure you could handle getting him a friend to play with."

Skyfire flicked his ears. A friend? As in another cat? That sounded nice, but would Starscream still come around if there was another cat in the house? Or would the new cat try to drive him away? How would Skyfire get Starscream inside before winter if there was another cat around who might not even like him? Worse yet, what if Prowl decided to get a queen, and Starscream grew more interested in her than in Skyfire? What if they had kittens together?

The thought made him feel strangely annoyed. He wouldn't mind Starscream making friends with another cat - it was certainly better than that other cat trying to drive him away - but somehow he didn't like the idea of Starscream  _ mating _ with another cat. In that sense, he wanted Starscream to himself, and he didn't care that they were both toms.

"I'll think about it," Prowl said, though he sounded skeptical.

“You do that,” Jazz said. “And in the meantime, maybe try getting Jetfire some different food for a change. Doesn’t matter how good it is for him if he’s not gonna eat it.”

  


Prowl stayed home again the next day, as he often did when he didn’t go to his work clowder. Skyfire wanted to go outside and look for Starscream as soon as the cover came off his cat flap, but he rarely saw him in the yard in the mornings. So he stayed inside and followed Prowl around the house instead, waiting impatiently for the afternoon to arrive.

Finally, he could wait no longer. When he couldn’t see Starscream from the porch, he went straight for the familiar bush, and found Starscream’s scent on a low-hanging branch. It was recent, probably left sometime in the early morning, and Skyfire was certain it meant he would be back today. Maybe even soon.

Skyfire didn’t want to draw attention to the bush if Prowl looked out the window again, though, so he sat in the shade of the tree instead, where he would be able to see Starscream’s return. He groomed himself while he waited, trying to look casual, then went back to the porch to sit on the steps, like he often did when he was watching the yard. He felt unusually nervous, and even though Prowl usually left the cat flap uncovered all day when he was home, Skyfire couldn’t stop worrying that he would be made to go inside before Starscream came back.

Then he saw movement by the gate, and all other thoughts left his mind.

He leaped from the steps and trotted for the gate, tail lifting in welcome. But he slowed as he drew near, and tilted his head in confusion.

Starscream was trying to pull something through the gate with him. It looked a little like a chunk of cooked meat, but it was bigger than his head. And too big to fit through the small space Starscream was always squeezing through.

Starscream backed away from the gate and dropped whatever it was, then turned around and backed toward the opening instead. He had to wiggle a bit, and his fur was rubbed the wrong way, but he made it through, pulling the meat behind him. He dropped it again and shook himself to fix his fur, then clamped his jaws over his prize and continued toward Skyfire, his movements made unusually awkward by the size of the thing he carried. Now that he was through the gate, Skyfire could see that it was a turkey leg; the bone dragged along the ground, leaving a furrow in the grass between Starscream’s paws and threatening to trip him.

Skyfire met him halfway, though his own movements were slow and cautious. He didn't want Starscream to think he was trying to steal his food.

Starscream dropped the turkey and looked up at Skyfire, who sniffed his face. He smelled pleased and smug, undoubtedly proud of himself for his find. Where he  _ had _ found it, Skyfire couldn't imagine. Humans did cook food outside sometimes, but this leg was cold; he could tell by how weak its scent was. And if humans had been eating cold food outside, how could Starscream have possibly escaped with something he could barely carry?

Amusement bled into Starscream's scent just before he pulled away. He sat down, licking his chops, then began to wash his face, completely unconcerned that Skyfire might take the turkey.

Skyfire hesitantly lowered his head to sniff the leg, but kept his eyes on Starscream to gauge his reaction. Starscream paused his grooming for a moment, watching him, then calmly went back to washing, his tail curled around the forepaw that was still on the ground.

The scent of the turkey made Skyfire realize how hungry he was. But he had plenty of food inside, so he swallowed the sudden flood of saliva in his mouth and sat up.

Starscream stopped grooming again and looked at the turkey. He lowered the paw he’d just been licking and batted the leg, then stretched up to sniff Skyfire’s face. Skyfire licked his lips and swallowed again, but he knew it was too late to hide his interest. Starscream pawed the leg again, then ducked his head to lick his own chest.

Was he offering the turkey to Skyfire? Or at least offering to share? Surely he couldn’t afford to do that. But then again, if he could get away with an entire leg of turkey, there was no telling what else he could do. Maybe he ate better than Skyfire had thought.

Skyfire slowly sank down to crouch over the turkey and licked it a few times, then took a bite when Starscream didn’t stop him. Then another. And then he was eating it as quickly as he could pull it from the bone, pausing occasionally to work his jaws and sever long strands. He wasn’t sure when he’d started purring, but he wasn’t inclined to stop. He’d never had this much turkey before in his life, and knowing his brave, clever little tom wanted to share it with him made it taste all the better.

His own possessiveness surprised him. Not enough to make him stop eating, but he did slow down, and cast a glance at where Starscream now lay, grooming his belly. It reminded Skyfire of Starscream’s easy submission the day before, when he’d allowed himself to be groomed. Skyfire still wasn’t sure why a cat brave enough to catch a snake would submit without a fight, but something in him was pleased by it. Pleased, yet also humbled that Starscream had come to trust him so much.

Starscream finished his grooming and stretched out his neck without sitting up, scenting the turkey. Skyfire paused, licking his chops, and watched him. After a few moments Starscream did sit up, and pawed at the turkey until the untouched side was turned to the sky. Then he settled into a crouch opposite Skyfire and stared back at him, blinking calmly. When Skyfire went back to eating, Starscream joined him, brushing their whiskers together.

At this proximity, Skyfire could feel light puffs of air as Starscream exhaled, and the occasional brush of fur against his. Their ears touched a few times too, prompting a twitch from one or the other. But none of it was annoying, or unpleasant. Skyfire liked the closeness, and Starscream gave no signs that he felt differently.

But Skyfire wanted to be closer.

When he’d had his fill of turkey, Skyfire moved higher to lick Starscream’s face, still purring. Starscream lifted his head, and they stayed there for a moment, sniffing each other. Then Skyfire sat up, shifting around next to Starscream, and began to groom the top of his head. Starscream continued eating, allowing Skyfire to do as he liked.

Skyfire didn’t care if Starscream had fleas, or that they were both toms. He liked him and wanted him in his clowder. Wanted to  _ be _ with him, in a way he’d never wanted to be with any of those queens Prowl used to introduce him to. And if Prowl didn’t like it, Skyfire didn’t care about that either. He would do whatever he had to to get Starscream accepted into the house before the weather turned cold.

  


When Skyfire saw his cat carrier sitting at the base of his tower, he knew Prowl was taking him somewhere. The carrier always meant travel, whether it was to the vet, to meet a queen, or even to a cat show. Skyfire didn’t know where they were going this time, but he could rule out a show. He hadn’t experienced any of the training or special grooming that came before the last one.

Maybe Prowl really was going to get another cat, and was bringing Skyfire along for some reason. Or maybe it was just another breeding attempt so he could spend some time with a cat of Prowl’s choosing. Either was possible, but a trip to the vet seemed the most likely. The vet was often the first destination before a show or an encounter with a queen. But Skyfire’s frequent trips to the place didn’t make him like it any better.

He waited in the middle of the sitting room and meowed the moment Prowl came in, demanding an explanation.

“What is it, Jetfire?” Prowl asked. He was carrying one of Skyfire’s bed blankets.

Skyfire meowed again, on the edge of yowling, and lashed his tail once for emphasis. He trotted up next to the carrier to draw attention to it, then turned to fix Prowl with an accusing stare.

“Yes, I know you prefer to travel with your harness,” Prowl said. “But where we’re going, you have to be in your carrier.”

Skyfire glared at the open mouth of the carrier. He had figured  _ that _ out.

“Please don’t throw a fit about this,” Prowl said, laying the blanket next to the carrier. “We’ve done this far too often for you to still act like I’m betraying you every time."

Skyfire jumped onto his tower, going straight for the highest platform, and curled up to glare at the wall.

“And you’re throwing a fit,” Prowl sighed. “I hope you realize this would be less stressful for both of us if you would just cooperate.” He was silent for a few moments, then added, “Jetfire, I took the morning off work to take you to the vet, and we’re supposed to be there in an hour. If I have to climb up there and get you, I  _ will _ bring a chair in here.”

So they  _ were _ going to the vet. Skyfire swept his tail up around his paws, where it continued to twitch angrily, but he remained otherwise motionless. Eventually, Prowl left the room, and Skyfire watched him go out the corner of his eye. It was entirely possible that Prowl would act on his threat to remove him from his perch, but that didn’t make Skyfire any more willing to cooperate. Not if it meant going to the vet.

When Prowl returned, though, it wasn't with a chair. Instead he held a small bowl, and Skyfire caught the scent of warm chicken immediately. He twisted to get a better look and scented the air. Prowl came to stand under him and picked a small chunk of chicken from the bowl, then held it up to Skyfire. Skyfire stretched his head down and sniffed the morsel. He knew he was being bribed, and he wanted to refuse it, but in the end he grabbed it from Prowl’s fingers. Prowl held out another piece, this one above the platform below Skyfire, and he begrudgingly hopped down to take that one too.

“Maybe Lee was right,” Prowl commented. “Maybe you are just tired of the same food all the time.”

Skyfire licked his chops, but glared at Prowl to let him know he was still mad.

Prowl took another piece of chicken, then knelt and put the bowl in the carrier. Skyfire curled his forepaws over the edge of the platform, watching the hand that still had chicken in it.

“Last piece,” Prowl said, placing it on the lowest platform of the tree. “If you want the rest, you’ll have to get in your carrier.”

Skyfire leaned down as far as he could without falling off his platform and thought about it. Then he gave a quiet, grumpy meow and jumped down, laying claim to the treat.

“There’s a good kitty,” Prowl said, stroking Skyfire’s back while he ate. “Go on. Into the carrier.”

Skyfire reluctantly returned to the floor, then peered into the dark confines of the carrier where the bowl of chicken sat. It was a familiar sight; he had travelled often enough to be used to the carrier, and there was already a second blanket from Skyfire’s bed lining the floor, flooding the box with both his own scent and that of the chicken. If they had been going somewhere fun, like a show, he wouldn’t have minded that he had to spend some time in the small space.

But they weren’t going somewhere fun, and he didn’t particularly want to be taken away from his window perch all morning.

It was his hunger, awoken by the chicken he’d already consumed, that made up his mind. He crept into the carrier and settled down at the back, burying his face in the bowl. He heard the door swing shut behind him, and the rattle of the latch sliding into place, but he ignored it. The sounds were nothing he hadn’t heard before.

“Good boy, Jetfire,” Prowl praised. “Let’s get going and we can get you home by noon. Sound good?”

Skyfire swished his tail once, curling it against his side, and continued eating.

  


The car ride to the vet was spent with a blanket draped over Skyfire’s carrier, leaving him in a small, warm, dim space filled with his own scent. If not for the rumble of the car under him, it might have been a comfortable place to nap. But even as it was, there were worse ways to travel. It felt safe enough, despite the knowledge of where they were going. And it was certainly better than the sense of weightlessness that came with being carried from the car to the vet building.

Skyfire was uncomfortably aware of being in someone else’s territory as he lay in his carrier, waiting for the vet to call. He was used to the feeling, but it never went away. It just became easier to ignore, especially in high-traffic areas. He knew all those animals he smelled outside were just passing through, and that this was really no one’s territory except maybe the vet’s. But coming face to face with any animal in their territory was a nerve-wracking experience.

The thought reminded him of Starscream, and how he’d stared Skyfire down the evening they first met, despite being hurt. He’d been in Skyfire’s territory, and afraid, but he’d still been ready to fight. And had still accepted help in the end, even though they were strangers. Skyfire could only imagine being that brave.

“Jetfire?” a male voice called. Something scraped outside Skyfire’s carrier, then the floor swayed under him as he was lifted. He stayed curled on the blanket, knowing from experience that he would only feel more unstable if he stood up.

Prowl carried him into another room, and the same male voice said, “Certainly didn’t expect to see you two again so soon. Off to another big show, or did you just find the next queen to woo your young stud?”

“Neither,” Prowl replied. “There’s been a stray hanging around my yard and I want to make sure Jetfire hasn’t picked anything up from her.”

He lifted Skyfire’s carrier onto a counter, and the floor stopped moving. Skyfire remained in the back, staring out at the world beyond the bars of the carrier door.

“A stray, huh?” the vet said. “Well, if you’re worried about fleas, I can get rid of any Jetfire might be carrying around. But he’s just going to get more if you don’t get the stray taken care of.”

Skyfire turned his head towards the voice, tail flicking restlessly. He didn’t know what ‘taking care’ of Starscream meant, but he didn’t think it meant what it was supposed to.

“Fleas are a concern, but not the only one I have,” Prowl replied. “Jetfire hasn’t been eating right lately, either.”

“You could have led with that.” A hand entered Skyfire’s visual field and the fingertips poked through the bars. “How long has our champion here been off his feed?”

“A few weeks,” Prowl said. “Maybe a month. I thought he was just being picky at first, but he keeps skipping dinner to go outside, and I haven’t had to refill his dry food as often.”

“Hmm. I suppose he could be hunting, if he’s going outside,” the vet mused. “Did he stop eating before or after the stray showed up?”

“I’m not sure. I first saw her at about the same time, but I don’t know how long she was coming around before that. I know she and Jetfire have had contact, though.”

“She?” the vet repeated. “A pretty little lady finally caught your eye, hmm, Jetfire?”

Skyfire crept to the front of the carrier and sniffed the vet’s fingers. He knew this human. Knock Out had been his veterinarian since Prowl adopted him, and he’d always been nice. Aside from the times when he poked Skyfire with sharp things, but there were always treats after the poking was done.

Satisfied that this human was okay, Skyfire rubbed his cheek against Knock Out’s fingers.

“I think it’s a she,” Prowl said. “I haven’t had the chance to check, but it’s a pretty small cat.”

Knock Out made an amusement sound. “Most cats are small compared to a Maine Coon.”

He withdrew his fingers and opened the carrier. Skyfire cautiously stepped halfway out, scenting the counter for traces of other animals. Knock Out rubbed his cheek, and Skyfire leaned into it.

“Have you tried catching her?” Knock Out continued. “If you don’t want her passing anything to Jetfire, your best bet at keeping him healthy is to get her off the streets.”

Skyfire raised his head and looked sharply at Prowl, tail lifting to bump against the ceiling of his carrier. He liked that idea, if it meant getting Starscream inside. Catching him didn’t sound so great, but it would be worth it to have him somewhere warm for the winter.

“I’ve looked at a few traps online,” Prowl said. “I don’t want to catch Jetfire by mistake, though.”

Knock Out lifted his shoulders and reached under the counter, coming back with a pair of gloves. “Keep him inside until you get her, then. It’ll limit his exposure to her, anyway.”

Skyfire meowed in protest. However long it took to catch Starscream, he knew he didn’t want to stay inside that long. And he  _ definitely _ didn’t want to be separated for that long.

“Yes, I know,” Knock Out said. “You want to go home and we’re standing here wasting your time.” To Prowl, he added, “I’ll check him out and let you know if I find anything. But the sooner you catch that cat, the better. Goodness knows we don’t need her popping out kittens if she hasn’t been spayed. Unless they were Jetfire’s, I suppose.”

“I would rather the one queen he actually mates with not be a stray,” Prowl said flatly.

Despite his indignation, Skyfire couldn’t help feeling amused by the humans’ ignorance. And he definitely couldn’t wait for them to finally figure out that Starscream wouldn’t be having any cat’s kittens.


	5. Scents of Autumn

Knock Out sent Skyfire home with a clean bill of health, and a suggestion to try him on different food. All that mattered to Skyfire was that he would be able to return to his window, and that he clean the scent of the vet from his fur before Starscream smelled it on him. That evening, Prowl gave him a new food brand, and Skyfire did his best to be patient and eat before going outside. But eventually he could wait no longer, and headed out to greet Starscream, who seemed only slightly put off by the way Skyfire smelled.

Despite what he’d told Knock Out, Prowl didn’t set any traps for Starscream in the days that followed, nor did he keep Skyfire inside. Skyfire was glad of the latter, but the former made him nervous. Getting Starscream inside without scaring him would be ideal, but getting him inside at all was Skyfire’s main priority. He couldn’t understand why Prowl complained about Starscream wandering around but didn’t try to do something.

Then he found a bowl of dry pellets on the ground next to the porch steps and realized Prowl was trying to  _ feed _ Starscream.

Starscream wasn’t eating the pellets, though. Skyfire could smell that when they met up in the evenings. Either he didn’t know they were there, didn’t trust them, or had tried them and didn’t like them. Whatever held Starscream back, Skyfire appreciated Prowl’s attempt, and sometimes ate a few pellets to make him feel better. Not that there was much need, once the squirrels found them.

But the more time that passed, the earlier night came, and the colder the air grew.

It was on another of Prowl’s stay-at-home days when Skyfire emerged from the house to find the porch spotted with leaves. They were thicker on the grass, which was completely buried in some places. Skyfire leaped from the porch to the ground and began to sniff through the leaves, familiarizing himself with their dry, dusty scent.

Moments later, something small burst from under the porch stairs and wrapped its forelimbs around his neck.

Skyfire twisted on reflex, breaking his attacker’s grip and backing away from it. He fluffed out his fur and put his side to the intruder, hissing a warning - and it was Starscream who stood before him, paws braced wide apart and whiskers perked with excitement. Skyfire relaxed slightly, but still glared at Starscream, tail flicking with irritation.

Starscream relaxed his stance and circled around to sit in front of Skyfire. He didn’t look the slightest bit sorry, but he at least seemed to realize that Skyfire hadn’t liked being jumped on.

When he was sure he wouldn’t be attacked again, Skyfire cautiously approached Starscream and sniffed his face. He smelled of amusement and chicken, but there was no malice. His attack had been born of a desire to play, and nothing more.

But if Skyfire agreed to play with him now, he would just do the same thing the next time he wanted to have fun.

Skyfire turned away from Starscream and pointedly went back to sniffing leaves. He could hear Starscream moving around behind him, and kept an ear angled in his direction in case he decided to charge again, but otherwise refused to acknowledge him.

Starscream pushed his face in beside Skyfire’s, scenting the same leaf. Skyfire drew back and Starscream did the same, staring at Skyfire with wide eyes while his tail swished slowly. Then he shook himself and lunged at the leaves, grabbing at the ones that slid away under his paws. He stayed there for a moment, flat on his belly and sweeping an excited gaze over the leaves around him, then twisted to capture a few near his hind feet.

There was no staying mad at such an eager young cat. For all Skyfire knew, this was Starscream’s first leaf-fall and it was all new to him. And leaves  _ were _ fun to play with, so of course he would be in a mischievous mood.

Skyfire took a moment to scratch his neck, then shook his fur back into place and stood. Starscream paused his assault on the leaves to look at him. Skyfire raised his tail, assuring him that he wasn't mad anymore, then reached out and batted Starscream on the ear.

Starscream leaned away, still lying among the leaves, and swiped at Skyfire's paw. Skyfire stepped back, tail swishing playfully, then turned and ran. Leaves rustled as Starscream lunged, and then the pounding of heavy pawsteps followed Skyfire.

They charged across the sunny yard without a thought for stealth, kicking up leaves behind them. Starscream quickly caught up with Skyfire, but stayed by his flank as though waiting for the opportunity to bring down his prey. Skyfire slowed down, forcing Starscream to do the same to stay behind him. When they had slowed enough, Starscream threw himself at Skyfire and wrapped his forelegs around his neck once again. Skyfire was knocked off his paws by the impact, but he used the momentum to roll, throwing Starscream from his neck.

Both cats sat up and faced each other, Starscream with a paw raised up near his head. Skyfire hunched his shoulders, making himself as small a target as possible, then lunged at Starscream’s belly. Starscream planted his forepaws on Skyfire’s shoulders and twisted, taking them both back to the ground. His hind paws drummed lightly against Skyfire’s chest.

Skyfire twisted, freeing his head, and sat up again. Starscream stayed on the ground, tail flicking and paws extended defensively in front of him. Skyfire tilted his head, considering, then threw himself on top of Starscream and closed his mouth over his scruff.

Starscream’s hind paws battered Skyfire’s belly, trying to force him off. Skyfire gave him another playful bite on the neck, then jumped over him, getting clear of his paws. Starscream twisted in an attempt to follow him, then lay with the top of his head flat on the ground and forelegs splayed wide.

He looked ridiculous. But seeing him so happy made Skyfire feel strangely warm.

He sat down and took a swipe at Starscream’s head. Starscream grabbed for his paw with both of his own, but neither cat made contact with the other. After a moment Starscream rolled to his paws and reared up, forelegs wrapping back around Skyfire’s neck. Skyfire wiggled backward and sat up on his haunches, breaking Starscream’s hold. Starscream sank down into a similar position and swiped at Skyfire, who responded in kind.

They stayed that way for a few moments, exchanging blows that never came close to hitting. Eventually, Starscream dropped back to all fours and retreated from reach. Skyfire flopped down on his side with his head and forepaws pointed at Starscream, daring him to attack again. Starscream hung back, motionless except for his lashing tail. Then he darted forward and buried his face in Skyfire’s belly. Skyfire wrapped his forelegs around Starscream’s body and carefully kicked him in the head, wary of hurting him.

Starscream squirmed in Skyfire’s hold, and finally twisted free when Skyfire relaxed his grip. He backed off and shook out his rumpled fur, and Skyfire climbed back to his paws. He stepped in close to sniff Starscream’s face, and found exactly what he’d expected: the scent of happiness.

Skyfire purred and began to lick Starscream’s face, requesting an end to the playtime. Starscream drew back slightly, but after a few moments he relaxed and slowly settled into a loaf, allowing Skyfire to sit and groom him.

A flicker of movement drew Skyfire’s gaze to the house. Prowl stood on the other side of the kitchen window, watching them. But though his mouth was set in a thin line, he didn’t move for the door to drive Starscream away this time.

  
  


The next day, Prowl put Skyfire’s harness on him and took him outside. Skyfire went calmly, having been taught to wear a harness as a kitten, and quickly realized why Prowl had him leashed: the bowl of dry pellets that had been by the porch for the last several weeks was now inside a metal cage. The door was propped open, and a trail of pellets led from the bowl to the outside of the trap.

Skyfire approached the cage cautiously and sniffed the bars. The harness straps pressed against his chest, holding him back from getting too close.

"What do you think, Jetfire?" Prowl asked. "Will we be able to catch that stray with this?"

Skyfire rubbed his cheek against the top edge of the cage, trying to replace the unfamiliar metal scent with his own. He suspected Prowl was more likely to catch a lot of squirrels than he was Starscream. But that was what happened when humans were gone all day and not paying attention to what was going on in their territory.

Prowl knelt beside Skyfire and scratched under his collar. "I'm glad you agree," he said. "With any luck we can catch her tonight and be done with this."

Skyfire looked up at Prowl and meowed hopefully. He  _ did _ agree on that part. The sooner Starscream was inside, the better.

Prowl smiled slightly and rubbed the backs of his fingers against Skyfire’s cheek. Skyfire leaned heavily into the contact, purring.

“You really were just lonely, weren’t you?” Prowl said. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering how needy you are all the time. Even cats need friends, don’t they?”

Skyfire purred harder and angled his head to have his chin rubbed. Prowl obliged, and Skyfire closed his eyes in bliss.

“Well. You won’t have to be lonely for much longer.” Prowl stood, and Skyfire looked up at him. “As soon as we get that stray taken care of, I’m going to look into getting another cat for you to play with. Maybe a queen you can start a family with. Would you like that?”

Skyfire tilted his head, confused. If they were going to catch Starscream, why did they need to look for  _ another _ cat? Not that Skyfire would object to more playmates, but Prowl made it sound like…

Like he didn’t plan on keeping Starscream after he caught him.

Skyfire lashed his tail and gave a drawn out meow. He didn't want a  _ different _ cat to play with, or some weird-smelling queen trying to get his attention. He wanted  _ Starscream _ . He wanted the brave, clever little tom who stalked snakes and shared turkey legs he could barely carry. Prowl knew Skyfire hadn't picked up any diseases from Starscream, so why was he still trying to take his friend away?

"I know, I know," Prowl said. "I need to stop talking about kittens. But you can't blame me for being hopeful, considering I bought you with breeding in mind."

Sometimes Skyfire didn't understand humans at all. If Prowl wanted him to mate so badly, why didn't he want to keep the cat he actually  _ thought _ Skyfire might be pairing with? Why go looking for another one?

“I want you to stay away from this trap, okay?” Prowl continued. “If I find you in it, I’m going to have to keep you inside until we get the stray, and I would rather not do that.”

That wasn’t going to be a problem. Skyfire didn’t want to be trapped inside either, especially if his time with Starscream was running out. How was he possibly going to get Starscream inside and convince Prowl to let him stay instead of taking him somewhere else?

  
  


When evening came, Prowl let Skyfire outside as usual, with a stern reminder to stay out of the trap. He also turned the porch light on, which he’d been doing ever since it began to be dark when he got home. Skyfire trotted down the steps to check on the trap, which still sat empty, then went looking for Starscream. Finding no sign of him, Skyfire climbed into the tree where he could look out over the fence and waited for his return.

It wasn’t long before Skyfire caught sight of a dark shape in a patch of lamplight on the edge of the street, moving in his direction. But it wasn’t Starscream. It was too big, and its light fur was still much darker than Starscream’s. It looked like a raccoon.

Skyfire lashed his tail nervously. He had seen the neighborhood raccoon a few times, usually through the window at night, but had only crossed paths with her twice. She was as big as he was, and not very friendly. She had never attacked him, but Skyfire remembered the raccoon scent on Starscream’s fur the night he showed up injured. If the scratches had been left by the same raccoon, she was clearly  _ willing _ to attack if she had to.

Would she hurt Starscream again if their paths crossed? Had she already hurt him? With winter coming, she probably wouldn’t feel like sharing food. What if she and Starscream had both tried to get the same meal and she decided to take advantage of being bigger than him?

The raccoon moved out of sight into a neighboring yard. Skyfire sat up carefully, peering over the fence, but was too far away to see the ground. He watched for a few moments, then settled back into a crouch and waited.

It wasn’t long before the raccoon reappeared, climbing up something on the other side of the fence to reach the top. She perched there, looking around, then began to awkwardly move along the edge of the fence, away from Skyfire. There was a smaller bush there, where Skyfire had made his ill-fated bird catching attempt. He had never tried to climb it because of how dense the branches were, but raccoons had hands, not paws. She might be able to use the bush to get into the yard.

Sure enough, she made a leap for the bush as soon as she was close enough. And though it was the most graceless decent Skyfire had ever seen, she made it safely to the ground. She paused to look around again, then ambled towards the house as though she owned the yard.

Skyfire didn’t know what to do. He wanted to go inside and get Prowl to cover the cat flap, but he also wanted to make sure Starscream was okay, and he couldn’t do that until Starscream came back. And if Starscream  _ did _ come back, and found a raccoon in a yard he had taken as part of his territory, would he attack her? He was half her size, but Skyfire could easily imagine him trying to drive her off.

Maybe  _ Skyfire _ could drive her off. Just get close and growl a bit until she got the idea and moved on. That way no one had to get hurt and the raccoon would find somewhere else to look for food.

Maybe Skyfire could be brave like Starscream was.

That decided him. He climbed out of the tree and approached the place where he’d seen the raccoon last, giving the house a wide berth so he wouldn’t walk right into her by accident. There was no breeze, so all he could smell was leaves and grass, and faint traces of the various animals that normally visited the yard. No raccoons.

Something rustled near the base of the house. Skyfire stopped, head jerking to face the sound. The raccoon was moving towards the porch, sniffing its way along the ground. If she had noticed him, she didn’t care that he was there.

Skyfire stayed still and watched her, suddenly regretting his decision to try scaring her away. If it didn’t work, she might attack him, or find the open cat flap and get inside.

Or maybe she would find the trap and get caught. Which would be a bad thing if Prowl gave up on trying to catch Starscream, because that meant he would still be outside when winter came. Then again, Prowl did want to take Starscream somewhere else, so maybe it would be a good thing if he gave up?

A low, groaning wail slipped unbidden from Skyfire’s throat. He didn’t know what to  _ do _ .

The raccoon rounded on him. Her eyes were wide, and gleamed almost white in the porch light. Skyfire tensed and fluffed out his fur, trying to look bigger, but didn’t move. This had definitely been a bad idea.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Skyfire was growing more nervous with every breath he took, but didn’t dare look away in case the raccoon took the opportunity to attack. He wailed again, louder this time, but wasn’t sure if he was trying to intimidate the raccoon or just call Prowl for help. All he knew was that if another cat had been looking at him that intently, an attack would have been inevitable.

Finally, the raccoon moved, slowly circling around Skyfire. He backed away, wary of being caught between her and the wall, but maintained eye contact. She rose up on her hind legs, still staring at him. Skyfire growled at her. After a moment more she dropped back to all fours facing the opposite direction and continued on her way, though she still kept her distance from Skyfire.

Emboldened, Skyfire followed her, trying to herd her away from the house. She stopped walking to look at him again, and Skyfire stared back at her. The raccoon took a few steps toward him, then backed off when he hissed a warning. She turned to keep walking, and Skyfire continued to follow her until she looked at him once again.

This was both easier and harder than he had expected. She hadn’t attacked him yet, but she didn’t seem inclined to leave either, and her confusing mix of ignoring him and staring at him made it hard to conclude that she  _ wouldn’t _ attack. Somehow, Skyfire had to get rid of her.

He took a slow step towards her, and she sidestepped away from him. Skyfire stopped again, heart racing frantically as he gathered his courage for his next move. If she was as skittish as she was acting, maybe a sudden movement would scare her off.

Skyfire braced himself, then darted at the raccoon.

She jumped away with a harsh bark, then twisted to face him. Skyfire faltered and stopped, ears folded and back arched. The raccoon lowered her body close to the ground then rose back up into an arch of her own, emitting a short, guttural growl as she moved. Skyfire had a bad feeling that he’d made a mistake.

Now it was his turn to back away, though he did so with a yowl of warning. The raccoon bobbed again, twice more, each dip punctuated by a grunting growl. Skyfire growled back, caught between staying frozen and running. He couldn’t decide which was more likely to get him hurt, but he was quite sure attacking would only lead to an all out fight - one he had no confidence that he could win.

He didn’t know what to do.

Another yowl rose from the darkness, higher in pitch than Skyfire’s. The raccoon turned her head, and that was the only thing that gave Skyfire the courage to take his eyes off her. He followed her gaze to the edge of the porchlight, where a pair of red eyes gleamed brightly from a dark face.

Starscream stalked toward them, fur puffed up and body low. His wail died down to a growl, then rose into another warbling cry. The raccoon shifted her weight and barked at him, but Starscream just increased his volume and pitch. The tone of his voice was that of a cat about to attack.

The front door burst open, spilling more light across the ground. Without so much as a glance at the top of the steps, the raccoon whirled around and fled. Starscream charged after her, and a circle of light - a flashlight beam - followed them briefly before swinging around near where Skyfire stood.

Skyfire shied away from the light. He wanted to go after Starscream and make sure he didn’t get hurt, but he didn’t feel like he could run. Even staying on his paws was almost too much. How close had he just come to getting attacked?

“Jetfire!”

The call was too loud, and too close. Skyfire flinched again and looked around for someplace he could go; somewhere he would be safe.

He turned away from the light, and his paws carried him to the bush he’d come to think of as Starscream’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's commented so far! I haven't had time to reply yet, but all of your kind words are very much appreciated. <3


	6. Into the House

Skyfire could hear Prowl calling his human-given name, but he only pressed himself further back under Starscream’s bush. He felt oddly weak and shaky, and his breathing was as heavy as though he’d gotten into an all-out fight rather than narrowly avoiding one. Part of him felt bad for ignoring Prowl, and for leaving Starscream to run after the raccoon alone, but the guilt was less pressing than the fear that had driven him to hide.

He swept his puffed up tail against his side and stared out into the darkness. He could see Prowl moving around near the porch, swinging the flashlight slowly from side to side as he called for Skyfire. But he couldn’t see Starscream.

What had he done? He could have gotten hurt, or worse, and now Starscream was out there too. Maybe at risk of being attacked himself, now that he was alone.

Skyfire never wanted to do that again. Bravery clearly wasn’t something he was suited to.

The flashlight’s beam swung away from him, and Prowl fell silent. Skyfire swiveled his ears, listening for some indication of what had caught his attention, but he couldn’t see anything from where he lay. Was the raccoon back? Or was it Starscream, returned to look for Skyfire?

Whether it was the raccoon or Starscream, it was entirely possible that she had hurt him. And it would be Skyfire’s fault for riling her up.

The light moved slowly, as though tracking something that was coming in Skyfire’s direction. He lashed his tail anxiously, but didn’t move. After a few moments, Prowl began to move towards him as well. The flashlight’s beam swept over the grass in front of Skyfire, then over the bush, and finally settled on him.

Prowl started walking more quickly, but it was movement lower down, and closer, that drew Skyfire’s attention.

Starscream was trotting towards him, tail high and movements unhampered. He didn’t look injured, or frightened anywhere near as badly as Skyfire was. He looked like a triumphant tom who had just driven an intruder from his territory, and his ears were perked in Skyfire’s direction.

Relief swept through Skyfire, easing some of his fear. He gave another lash of his tail, asking Starscream not to come too close too fast, but was able to relax a little knowing he was all right.

Starscream slowed not far from the bush and walked in a circle, looking back at Prowl before continuing his approach at an angle that put more space between cat and human. Prowl slowed down as well, then knelt a short distance from the bush and held out his free hand.

“Jetfire,” he called softly. “It’s okay. The raccoon is gone. You can come out now.”

Skyfire stared at him for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Starscream, who was creeping under the bush behind him. He sniffed Skyfire’s still-flicking tail, then lowered his body and stepped closer to do the same to his face. Skyfire expected Prowl to say something, or try to drive Starscream off, but he had fallen silent and still.

Starscream began to lick Skyfire’s face, shifting a little closer as he did so. Skyfire turned his head back toward Prowl to check on his reaction, and Starscream continued licking, undeterred. Prowl had lowered the hand he’d extended toward Skyfire and now had his forearm braced on his knee instead, but there was no irritation or anger on his face. He was just watching.

Skyfire turned his face part way back to Starscream and shut his eyes, doing his best to set aside the stress of the night and enjoy the grooming.

All too soon, Prowl called his name again. Skyfire reluctantly acknowledged him and opened his eyes.

“Come on, Jetfire,” Prowl said softly once Skyfire’s attention was back on him. “Let’s go back inside. It’s getting cold out here.”

He wasn’t wrong. Skyfire’s thick fur kept his body warm, but he could feel the chill of the air on his nose and ears. And Starscream’s fur was much shorter and thinner, so he was probably feeling the cold more than Skyfire was.

Skyfire instinctively swept his tail around Starscream, who was still licking his head. Starscream had at least partial credit in saving Skyfire from the raccoon. It wasn’t fair to leave him outside after that.

“Come on,” Prowl repeated. “I know you don’t want to stay out here.”

He wasn’t wrong about that either. The warm house with its high perches and small hideaways sounded like a much safer place to be right now. Skyfire didn’t want to risk another run in with the raccoon if she came back.

But he didn’t want Starscream to run into her either.

He looked up at Starscream and sniffed his face, and Starscream stopped grooming him to return the gesture. Prowl sighed.

“Even if we tried, she wouldn’t come in with us. She’s a stray, she’s used to living outside. She’ll be fine.”

Skyfire looked at Prowl and meowed plaintively. He saw no reason why that should matter.

Prowl shook his head, tapped his fingers on his knee, then finally nodded. “Okay. You know what? If she follows us she can come in, just for tonight. We need to get her to the vet anyway, so we might as well try and catch her while we can.”

The reminder that Prowl wanted to get rid of Starscream made the victory a bitter one. But if it meant Starscream would be out of the cold and away from the raccoon, that was good enough for Skyfire. And maybe Prowl would change his mind if he got to know Starscream a little.

Prowl climbed to his feet and clicked his tongue. “Come on. Time to go inside.”

Skyfire carefully disentangled himself from Starscream and stepped to the edge of the bush, then looked back. Starscream was staring up at Prowl, eyes wide and body hunched slightly. Skyfire chirped, regaining Starscream’s attention, then tilted his head inquisitively.

Starscream stared at Skyfire, then looked back at Prowl when he clicked his tongue again.

Prowl started back towards the house. Skyfire followed him a short distance, then turned back again, tail raised invitingly. Starscream was still under the bush, but he had crept to the edge of it and now crouched there, watching Skyfire.

“Jetfire!” Prowl called. Skyfire looked over his shoulder. Prowl had reached the porch and now stood at the top of the steps. Waiting for him.

Skyfire looked back at Starscream, twitching the tip of his tail. Silently pleading.

Starscream moved, slowly emerging from under the bush. His gaze kept flicking between Skyfire and Prowl, but little by little, he closed the distance between them.

Skyfire gave an excited mew and trotted for the porch, pausing every few steps to make sure Starscream was still following. And he was, by some miracle. Hesitantly, but he was.

He had to have been a housecat when he was young. There was no way a cat who had never lived with humans would have been willing to go inside so easily, even with the encouragement of a trusted friend.

Skyfire bounded up the porch steps, then waited for Starscream to enter the light to make sure Prowl could see him coming. The last thing he needed was for Prowl to think he hadn’t followed. When Skyfire was satisfied, he moved into the doorway and lingered there, careful to stay where Starscream could see him too. Prowl stepped past him into the house. The cover of the cat door rattled as it slid into place, but Skyfire only twitched an ear to acknowledge it. The rest of his focus stayed firmly on Starscream.

Starscream crept up the steps, sniffing as he went, then edged forward to do the same to Skyfire’s face. Skyfire began to purr, encouraging and soothing, and retreated a short way into the house, giving Starscream space to continue his investigation. Starscream scented the doorway, then the floor. Then, finally, he set a paw inside the house.

After the first paw, it didn’t take long for the rest of Starscream to follow. His head and tail were low, and he paused occasionally to look up at Prowl, but he kept moving forward, not backward. When he was fully inside, Prowl eased the door shut. Starscream looked up sharply, but didn’t make a dash for the narrowing gap.

Finally, the door clicked shut.

Skyfire trotted to up Starscream, purring more quickly in his excitement. He’d done it! Starscream was inside!

Starscream shied back from Skyfire, tail twitching, but allowed him close enough to scent his face. He smelled nervous and unsure, but that wasn’t surprising given the situation.

Prowl stepped slowly away from the door. Starscream spun around and hunched his back, pressing in against Skyfire’s chest. Skyfire stayed still and kept purring, doing everything he could to help Starscream calm down. To show him that there was no danger here. Starscream turned his head, watching Prowl pass by and head into the sitting room, but didn’t relax.

“Jetfire, come here,” Prowl called. “I need to make sure that raccoon didn’t hurt you.”

After the night he’d had, Skyfire wasn’t sure he wanted to be fussed over. He wanted to be left alone to curl up and sleep; preferably with Starscream. But he needed Starscream to be around Prowl as much as possible if he was going to change his mind about getting rid of him, so Skyfire obediently trotted down the hall. He paused in the doorway to look back at Starscream, who stood watching him, then continued on to where Prowl sat on the floor.

Skyfire had trouble sitting still so Prowl could look him over. He was used to the routine thanks to the shows he’d participated in, but the excitement of the evening - positive and negative - made it hard to tolerate. He wanted to get back to Starscream and make sure he was doing okay with the new environment.

When the examination was finally over, Prowl shook his head and rubbed Skyfire’s back.

“Lucky guy,” he said. “It looks like you’re fine. Even so, I’m going to make an appointment with Doctor Shen tomorrow to get you both checked out.”

Another trip to the vet only weeks after the last one. Skyfire didn’t like the sound of that. But Starscream was inside now, and would probably be even less happy about going to the vet than he was. For his sake, Skyfire would have to try and stay calm.

He turned around, meaning to go back to Starscream, then paused. The cat in question stood in the hall, peering around the edge of the doorway at them. He was still close to the floor, but he didn’t move when he was noticed.

Skyfire shook himself and trotted to him, tail high. Starscream crouched a little lower, drawing his head back slightly, but otherwise stayed where he was. Skyfire ducked his own head and touched noses with him, and Starscream slowly stretched up to sniff his face.

“Leave her alone, Jetfire,” Prowl said. “She’s not in a mood to play right now.”

Both cats swivelled an ear towards him, but Skyfire offered no further acknowledgement. Starscream scented Skyfire’s chest, then rose to his paws and began to circle him, sniffing every tuft of fur in reach. Skyfire turned his head to watch him, but stayed still and let him do what he needed to. When he reached Skyfire’s tail, he ducked his head to confirm that this was, in fact, still Skyfire, despite the unfamiliar scent Prowl had left all over his fur.

“Really? Do you have to do that right here?” Prowl asked.

Starscream raised his head, staring over Skyfire’s hindquarters at Prowl. Skyfire gave himself another shake, then rolled onto his back and stretched, demonstrating to Starscream how safe he felt here. Starscream returned his attention to Skyfire, and after a few moments he dipped his head to sniff this new expanse of fur. Skyfire lay quietly, forepaws tucked to his chest and tail flicking.

When he was done with Skyfire, Starscream crept into the room, still following his nose. He stayed close to the wall, and paused occasionally to look at Prowl or Skyfire, but he continued moving deeper into the room.

Skyfire rolled back to his paws and went after him, and Starscream stopped again. A quick sniff around his ears assured Skyfire that he was still wary, but less nervous than before. It probably helped that Skyfire spent most of his time in this room, so his scent was on everything.

Prowl climbed to his feet. Starscream stiffened, staring at him once again.

“I’ll be right back,” Prowl told Skyfire. “Make sure our guest doesn’t scratch anything she’s not supposed to while I’m gone.”

Skyfire swished his tail doubtfully. He didn’t think he could stop Starscream from doing anything if he really wanted to do it.

Prowl left the room. Starscream’s gaze followed him the entire time, but once he was gone, he went back to exploring the edge of the room. Skyfire stayed close, purring, but gave him enough space to go where he wanted to.

It wasn’t long before Prowl returned, carrying a bowl of something. It was almost certainly food, and Skyfire went to him with an eager meow.

“This isn’t for you,” Prowl told him. “You can have a few pieces, but you need to leave the rest for her.”

Skyfire sat down at his feet and meowed again, swishing his tail over the floor. He was more than happy to share with Starscream, but he also knew bowls that weren’t his normal food dish usually meant treats. And after his scare with the raccoon, a bit of chicken or tuna sounded like the perfect comfort food.

Prowl seated himself on the floor again and tossed a piece of chicken on the floor near Skyfire. He went for it eagerly, then turned back to look for more. Prowl gave him another piece, then tossed the next morsel in Starscream’s direction. Skyfire paused midway through his own piece to watch.

Starscream was staring at the chicken from where he crouched near the wall, neck stretched out as he scented it. Prowl threw another piece that landed closer to him, and Starscream startled briefly before slowly sitting down. He extended a paw and patted the chicken, then hooked it in his claws and lifted it to his mouth.

Prowl made a quiet, amused sound. “Great. We left one raccoon outside and ended up with another inside. She’s even got the mask.”

Skyfire gave a short meow of disagreement. Starscream was sleek and graceful; nothing like a clumsy round raccoon.

With that piece of chicken finished, Starscream edged closer to the original and reached out again, grabbing that scrap with much less hesitation. When Prowl tossed him another one he paused to sniff it, then delicately picked it up in his teeth.

“There we go,” Prowl murmured. “Now you’re acting like a cat.”

Starscream twitched his ears and looked at him, licking his chops. Skyfire wondered if he, too, had noticed that Prowl had spoken directly to him instead of about him.

Prowl continued to flick bits of chicken at Starscream, slowly luring him closer. Skyfire got a couple more pieces as well, but most of his attention was on Starscream. How close would he get before deciding chicken wasn’t worth the risk?

When Starscream was about a body’s length away, Prowl held out a morsel in his fingers. Starscream stayed where he was, licking his lips again, but there was definite interest on his face.

“Come on, girl,” Prowl coaxed. “I have more left, but you’ll have to come get it. Otherwise I’m going to give it to Jetfire.”

Starscream flicked his tail and leaned towards Prowl, whiskers twitching. He took a few steps back, then crept forward again, stopping a little closer this time. Then he raised a paw and tried to grab the chicken in his claws, though he was too far away to reach it.

“You’re going to have to come a bit closer than that,” Prowl said. “Unless you’re saying you  _ want _ Jetfire to have it.”

Skyfire looked up at him and meowed. He didn’t want to take too much of Starscream’s food, but he wouldn’t turn down a little more chicken, either.

“See?” Prowl told Starscream. “If you want it, you had better come get it.”

Starscream tilted his head, then gave a meow of his own. It was surprisingly high pitched, almost more of a squeak, and had a faintly rumbly undertone like he was trying to purr at the same time. He angled his head the other way and meowed again, more loudly.

“Well, look who found her voice,” Prowl said. “I’d thought Siamese were supposed to be talkers.”

Starscream replied with a third meow and shifted his weight, almost kneading the floor in his impatience. His eyes were still locked onto the chicken.

“I’m not going to give this to you if you yell at me,” Prowl told him. “Chicken is for good kitties.”

Skyfire pawed at the nearer of Prowl’s arms, then rubbed his head against it.

“See, this is how you ask nicely,” Prowl said. He offered the chicken to Skyfire instead and Skyfire immediately licked it from his fingers, fully aware of Starscream staring at him.

Prowl had apparently seen the stare as well, because he said, “I warned you.” He took a new bit of chicken from the bowl and held it out. “Do you want this piece? You have to come get it if you want it.”

Starscream worked his paws again, then lowered himself a little more and edged even closer. He looked very much like he was hunting the chicken scrap, and trying to get up the courage to pounce. He even started to crouch before standing up straight with a mew.

“Come on,” Prowl encouraged. “Come get it.”

Finally, Starscream moved close enough to do just that. He glanced up at Prowl, then back at the chicken. Then he grabbed the scrap in his teeth and retreated, crouching to devour his prize from a safe distance.

“There you go,” Prowl said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Starscream just gave him a hard stare, ears angled in annoyance.

It took three more pieces of chicken - and two more for Skyfire - before Starscream stopped running away with each morsel. At that point Prowl paused with his empty hand palm up, and let Starscream sniff his fingers. Skyfire crept forward to do the same, then began to lick up the fragments of chicken that clung to Prowl’s fingers. Starscream sniffed Skyfire’s face instead.

“You’re very friendly, for a stray,” Prowl mused. “Did you get separated from your owner?”

Skyfire stopped licking to look up at Prowl, discomfort growing in his belly. Since they had met, Starscream had never smelled like humans, so it hadn’t occurred to Skyfire that he might actually have a clowder somewhere. And if he did, they might be looking for him. They might take him away.

“Since you don’t have a collar, I guess we’ll just have to get you to the vet and scanned for a microchip,” Prowl continued. “Could put up some flyers too, if you don’t have that either. Though with eyes like those, I’d think you’d have already been returned if your owner was looking for you. Did you get abandoned?”

He slowly curled his fingers and reached for Starscream’s head. Starscream shied back, staring at him with wide eyes, then ducked away from the hand and backed up. Prowl took more chicken from the bowl, giving one piece to Skyfire, then offered the other to Starscream on his palm. Starscream cautiously returned and sniffed Prowl’s fingers, then scooped the chicken to his mouth with a paw and backed away again.

“Well. Wherever you came from, I guess we’ll know soon enough.” Prowl stood slowly, taking the bowl with him, and Starscream retreated a little further. “Are you thirsty?” Prowl asked. “Do you want some water?”

Starscream didn’t move except to lick his chops, but Prowl didn’t seem to be waiting for an answer. He just left the room again, and Starscream continued to stare after him until he was gone. Only then did he look at Skyfire, who had stepped up next to him.

They touched noses, then Skyfire began to groom him, purring the entire time.

  
  


Prowl stayed with Skyfire and Starscream in the sitting room until late in the evening. Eventually he left the cat carrier at the base of the cat tower and closed the door, leaving the two cats together for the night. Skyfire could see that he was unsure about doing so, but had no objection to it himself. He knew Starscream wouldn’t hurt him. His real concern was whether Prowl would try to separate them when morning came. Talking to Starscream and feeding him by hand were good signs, but not proof that Prowl had changed his mind about getting rid of him.

Starscream himself had spent the evening investigating the room, including Skyfire’s toys and food dishes - though whether because of his chicken dinner or simple dislike of the dry pellets, he didn’t eat from them. After Prowl left, he discovered the window and rose up on his hind legs to look outside, forepaws braced on the sill.

Skyfire spent the time lying in his bed and watching Starscream explore. He still felt the weird discomfort that had set in after Prowl had started talking about the possibility that Starscream had a clowder looking for him. It almost hurt how badly Skyfire wanted to watch Starscream explore the other rooms in the house and become comfortable there, just like he had with the yard. He wanted this to be  _ normal _ . Wanted to wake up and see Starscream sitting in the window, and share treats while Prowl talked to them.

He wanted Starscream to be part of  _ his _ clowder, not one he hadn’t even lived with in who knew how long. But if he wasn’t living with them because he had been separated from them somehow, maybe they did want him back.

Maybe Starscream wanted to be back with them.

Starscream left the window and moved on to the cat carrier, where he had started his explorations in earnest. He sniffed along the door, which sat open, then peered inside the box. Then, apparently content that it hadn’t changed since the last time he checked it out, he crossed the room to where Skyfire lay.

Skyfire lifted his head at Starscream’s approach, and they touched noses briefly before Starscream lowered his head to sniff Skyfire’s tail. No doubt making sure he hadn’t changed either, after all the handling from Prowl. When Starscream was done, he moved on to scent the edge of Skyfire’s basket, then the bedding itself. He circled around the basket to do the same on the other side, and Skyfire had to turn his head to keep him in sight.

When Starscream was done sniffing, he cautiously placed a paw on the bed behind Skyfire and sniffed his fur again. Skyfire stretched up to give his cheek a few quick licks, and Starscream slowly climbed in behind him. The bed was large enough that Skyfire could sleep either curled up or only half curled, so while there wasn’t a lot of room left over, there was enough for a small cat like Starscream.

Starscream tucked himself into the space between Skyfire and the edge of the basket, then shifted higher to rest his head on Skyfire’s shoulder. He licked his lips, then swallowed. Thanks to their positions, Skyfire could feel his throat move.

Starscream trusted him enough to sleep with him. They hadn’t even known each other until early summer, and now they were sharing a bed.

Despite his worries, Skyfire found himself purring once more as he closed his eyes.


	7. Return to the Vet

After knowing Starscream all summer and hearing very few sounds from him, Skyfire was surprised by the amount of noise he could actually make when he wanted to.

Prowl had tried to get him into the cat carrier that morning by wrapping a towel around him, but Starscream wasn’t having it. He had easily escaped capture during the first attempt, and promptly fled to the top of the cat tower, denying Prowl a second try. It hadn’t stopped Prowl from climbing up on a chair after him, but all further attempts to get the towel over him, or to lift him down, had been met with growling, hissing, and yowling. And unlike Skyfire, he wasn’t willing to compromise over food.

Skyfire did his best to help by circling the base of the tower and meowing encouragement, and had even jumped up on the chair with Prowl to curl his tail around his legs and provide moral support. But it didn’t do much to get Starscream down.

“You know, when I installed this thing so you would have a place to feel safe, I didn’t mean safe from me,” Prowl told Skyfire. He seemed to have temporarily given up on getting Starscream down and was now seated in the chair instead; a position Skyfire had wasted no time taking advantage of by climbing into his lap. One hand absently petted him, but Prowl’s gaze remained fixed on the top of the cat tree, where a pair of red eyes glared down at them.

Skyfire pawed at Prowl’s arm and meowed, trying to distract him from the staring contest. It was only going to make Starscream more nervous if he felt like Prowl was trying to intimidate him. But Prowl just kept petting him, clearly not understanding.

Humans. For animals that could build things, they weren’t very smart.

“Well, Jetfire?” Prowl said, finally looking down at him instead. “She’s your friend. Any ideas for getting her down from there?”

To stop scaring him and wait for him to come down on his own was the first thing that came to Skyfire’s mind. But he didn’t know how he could explain that to a human. Prowl still hadn’t even figured out that Starscream was a tom.

Skyfire looked around the room for inspiration. Starscream wasn’t hungry enough to be swayed by food, and trying to drag him down by force hadn’t worked. If Prowl wasn’t going to wait for him to come down, that left coaxing him down with something else. But what?

Maybe Skyfire could convince him to come down, the same way he had convinced him to come indoors. It wasn’t the best idea, or in any way guaranteed to work, but he couldn’t think of anything else.

He leaped from Prowl’s lap to the lowest platform of the tower, and ignored the grunt his takeoff prompted from Prowl. From there he bounded to the platform below Starscream’s and sat there, pointedly looking past Starscream at the ceiling. On the edge of his vision he could see Starscream glaring at him, ears folded to the sides and tail lashing. His fur was ruffled too, either from fear, Prowl’s attempts to grab him, or both.

Skyfire rose on his haunches and set a paw on the edge of the top platform. When Starscream growled at him, he eased back down onto his own platform and blinked calmly. Then, for good measure, he looked away entirely to see what Prowl was doing instead. After a few moments he turned back to Starscream, who continued to glare at him. But this time, when Skyfire put a paw on the platform, Starscream didn’t growl.

Slowly, Skyfire leaned in close enough to sniff Starscream’s face, though Starscream pulled his head back in response. He smelled of anger and fear, far more so than he had when Skyfire first approached him while he was injured. This time, running away wasn’t an option.

It made Skyfire sad. He stayed where he was until Starscream finally leaned forward, scenting Skyfire’s face in return. Then he slowly shifted his weight back, forcing Starscream to follow him to get a good sniff. Once he was seated he stayed still, giving Starscream time to see how calm he was.

Eventually, Skyfire gave a quiet trill and leaped down onto a lower platform, then looked back up at Starscream. Starscream watched him, ears still flattened to the sides, and stayed where he was. Skyfire braced his forepaws on the edge of the higher platform and trilled again, asking Starscream to follow him.

Starscream lashed his tail and looked away. Skyfire waited patiently, taking the loss of eye contact as a good sign. Starscream wasn't trying to intimidate him anymore.

Finally, Starscream rose from his angry huddle and stepped down onto the platform Skyfire had just vacated. Skyfire trilled once more and hopped to the lowest platform, then looked up. Starscream stared back at him, eyes narrowed, then slowly followed.

Skyfire leaped to the floor and rubbed his cheek against the carrier, purring. After a brief pause, he heard Starscream drop to the lowest platform, then finally, to the floor. Skyfire crossed to the opposite side of the carrier and poked his head inside, then pulled back to look at Starscream.

Starscream approached the carrier and peered around the door at the interior, tail low and flicking. Prowl had once again lined the bottom of the carrier with one of Skyfire’s blankets, and now Starscream crept closer to scent it. Prowl slowly moved behind him, hands covered by the towel he had tried to catch Starscream with originally. Starscream lifted his head sharply, then made a lunge for freedom. Skyfire jumped in front of him, bringing him up short just long enough for Prowl to get the towel around him. Starscream twisted and wiggled, but Prowl was able to feed him into the carrier, and pushed the towel in behind him. By the time Starscream freed himself from it, the door was closed and latched.

Prowl sat back on his heels with a heavy sigh, then looked down at Skyfire. “If you were a dog, you’d be a sheep dog,” he said, scratching behind Skyfire’s ears. “Why can’t you be this cooperative when you’re the one going into the carrier?”

Skyfire looked up at him and meowed. The sound was lost under a moaning wail from the carrier. Starscream climbed over the wadded up towel and pawed at the criss-crossing bars of the door, then let out another yowl.

“How is it always the animals with the smallest lungs that make the loudest sounds?” Prowl wondered aloud.

Starscream yowled even louder.

“All right, that’s enough out of you.” Prowl picked up the second blanket that lay folded beside the carrier while a slim, dark foreleg slid between the bars, paw curling around the sliding bar that held the door shut. “I am so glad you don’t have opposable thumbs,” Prowl added.

He draped the blanket over the carrier, hiding Starscream from view. The flap over the door rippled, and Skyfire could hear Starscream’s claws scraping against metal. Skyfire hunched his shoulders and lowered his head, intently watching the fabric move.   
  
“Since your carrier is in use, you’re going to have to wear your harness,” Prowl said, standing up. Skyfire flicked an ear, but didn’t look away from the blanket, even as Prowl walked away.

Starscream’s paw withdrew, then he meowed. And meowed again. The blanket shifted, this time high on the side of the carrier, as something pushed through one of the air holes there. Claws scrabbled at plastic, then the bulge of the blanket receded and Starscream wailed again.

It made Skyfire’s chest hurt.

He sniffed the blanket, which carried his own scent, then hooked his claws in the fabric and pulled. It refused to come off the carrier, so he freed his claws from it and pushed his paw under the blanket instead, dragging the corner away from the floor. All the while, Starscream cried and clawed at every opening he found.

Finally, Skyfire was able to get his head under the blanket. Most of the light outside was filtered out by the fabric, but there was enough for Skyfire to see Starscream’s pale body huddled against a wall of the carrier, one forepaw gripping the edge of an air hole while the other slid through. He stretched up, pressing the top of his head against the ceiling with a pitiful mew. He looked so small, locked inside a carrier meant for a much larger cat.

Skyfire trilled to get his attention. Starscream looked at him, then disengaged from the air hole and returned to the front of the carrier, meowing repeatedly and desperately. If he cared that Skyfire had played a part in his capture, he didn’t show it. He just wanted out.

Skyfire wiggled further under the blanket and crouched outside, pressed right up against the door. Starscream’s head darted in search of a way out, then he shoved his paw back through the bars and grabbed at the latch again. He let out another wail and Skyfire closed his eyes, starting up a soothing purr. Starscream abandoned the latch and dropped his paw to Skyfire’s fur. His next cry was quieter, but no less wrenching.

They weren’t like that for very long before footsteps sounded behind Skyfire. It seemed Starscream heard it too, because he removed his paw from Skyfire’s fur and instead hooked both forepaws over the bars, and volume returned to his yowls.

“This is going to be a long car ride,” Prowl muttered. “Jetfire, come here so I can get your harness on.”

Reluctantly, Skyfire wiggled out from under the blanket and shook himself, then stood quietly while Prowl fastened the straps of his harness and attached a leash.

“Right,” Prowl said. “Let’s get this over with.”

He picked up the carrier with his free hand. Starscream yowled.

  
  


It was, indeed, a long car ride. Starscream wailed the entire time, varying only in volume and duration of each cry. Skyfire rode in the back seat next to the carrier and did his best to calm him, but Starscream was inconsolable. All Skyfire could really do was push his head under the blanket again so that Starscream would know he was still there.

Starscream continued to yowl as Prowl lifted him from the backseat and carried him into the vet building, Skyfire’s leash in his other hand. Humans stared at them as they came in, but Skyfire ignored them. The only thing he cared about was Starscream’s distress, and what he could do to alleviate it. As soon as Prowl sat down in the waiting room and set the carrier on the floor, Skyfire burrowed back under the blanket and curled up against the door.

The wait wasn’t as long as the car ride had been, but it still seemed too long to Skyfire. He wanted Starscream out of the carrier as soon as possible. But finally, a voice spoke above Starscream’s yowls and the quiet murmur of humans.

“Well well, look who it is. Jetfire’s lady friend, I assume?”

“She came into my house last night,” Prowl replied. “Of her own accord, if you can believe that.”

“Well, let’s have a look, shall we?” Knock Out said. “Bring her back.”

The carrier moved, then slowly lifted away from Skyfire. He meowed, staring up after it, and Starscream started a fresh round of louder wails.

“They certainly seem close,” Knock Out remarked. “I can’t imagine it’ll be easy to separate them.”

“No. I don’t suppose it will,” Prowl agreed absently.

They moved into a smaller, quieter room, where Starscream’s yowling seemed much louder. Knock Out motioned at a counter, and Prowl set the carrier down. Skyfire sat down at Prowl’s feet, tail swishing, and meowed to remind the humans that he was there. He wanted to see what was going on too.

Prowl folded back the blanket covering the carrier. Starscream fell silent, and Knock Out made a humming sound. “Aren’t you a pretty one? What’s a gorgeous girl like you doing out on the streets?”

Starscream meowed. It wasn’t quite the caterwauling of before, but it was still loud and insistent.

“No, I don’t think you belong out there either,” Knock Out said. “You’re far too well-bred.”

Prowl coughed slightly. “She and Jetfire ran into a raccoon last night. I don’t think either of them were hurt, but I’d like to have Jetfire checked out as well. Just to make sure.”

“Yes, of course,” Knock Out said. “I’ll have Louis look him over.” He turned away from Prowl and called, “Louis! Come help our fluffy white friend here, won’t you?”

“Sure, Doc,” a voice replied. “Be right there.”   
  
A large human tom with black fur and tanned skin entered the room, through a different door than the small group had. One eye was covered by a patch, but despite his size, his stance was relaxed and his gait was easy. Skyfire liked him immediately.

“Hey there, buddy,” the tom said, kneeling in front of Skyfire. He held out a finger and Skyfire cautiously sniffed it. When he had the scent name - Breakdown - he rubbed against the human’s hand, lifting his tail in greeting.

“Is he okay with being picked up?” Breakdown asked.

Prowl made an amused sound. “If you aren’t careful, he’ll stay up forever.”

He bent to unclip the leash from Skyfire’s harness, and Breakdown gathered him from the floor. Skyfire gladly allowed himself to be settled against his chest, and took advantage of his new vantage point to look for Starscream. He was still in the carrier, and still meowing to be let out. But he felt silent, just for a moment, when he caught sight of Skyfire.

“Assuming he is, in fact, unhurt, we can probably get Jetfire back to you in a few minutes,” Knock Out told Prowl. “This one here will take a bit longer, even if she is okay, but you can come back later and pick her up if you’d like. Can’t promise you’ll be able to keep her if she turns out to have an owner, but it’s either that or she stays in a cage until her owner comes for her. And I don’t know about you, but I think she’d be happier staying with a friend.”

Starscream yowled.

“I don’t think she likes being ignored,” Breakdown told Skyfire quietly.

“Yes, I agree,” Prowl said, seemingly to Knock Out. “There’s no point in locking her up alone if she doesn’t have to be.”

"Then it's settled!" Knock Out said. "Louis will bring Jetfire out to you when he's given the all clear, and if you could come back at, say… Three o'clock, I'll turn the lady over to you as well. And if I may suggest, bring Jetfire back with you. We'll have to sedate her to examine her properly, and she might be calmer having a familiar face around while she wakes up fully."

"Yes, I'll do that," Prowl agreed. "Thank you."

Starscream slid a foreleg through the bars and pawed at the latch.

  
  


As promised, it didn't take long for Breakdown to look Skyfire over. When he was done, he gave Skyfire a treat and carried him back out to Prowl. Skyfire accepted the treat, but meowed a protest at being separated from Starscream. He knew they would be back - and Breakdown told him as much - but Starscream was still meowing without cease, and Skyfire hated leaving him alone when he was so upset.

The wait to go back was torture. Skyfire spent the whole time roaming the house and meowing; calling for someone he knew wasn't there.

The worst part was not knowing how much time he and Starscream had left together. If Starscream did have a clowder somewhere, they would almost certainly want him back with them. And if he was microchipped, his clowder could have been found already. They might even go straight to the vet to pick him up, and then Skyfire would never see him again.

When Prowl finally announced that it was time to go, Skyfire could barely hold still long enough for his harness to be put back on. Then it was time for another painful wait in the car, which was made only slightly more bearable by the knowledge that he was on his way back to Starscream. They would see each other again soon.

But he couldn't stop wondering if it would be for the last time.

Skyfire trotted up to the vet building, pulling impatiently on his leash. It was times like this when he really wished humans could walk faster. He slowed down and meowed at Prowl, who sighed.

"You really like that cat, don't you?"

Skyfire meowed again and sped up until the leash was taut. Only moments later he was brought to a halt by a closed door, and reared up to paw at the doorknob.

“The door opens out,” Prowl told him. “Even if you could turn the knob, you couldn’t open it. And I can’t open it with you standing there.”

He nudged Skyfire in the side with his leg. Skyfire gave an indignant meow and dropped back to the ground, then darted through the door the moment Prowl had opened it far enough.

“But surely there’s something you can do!” a brown-furred human queen was saying as Skyfire paused to look around.

“Ma’am, hair loss is very common in dogs,” Knock Out said with exaggerated patience. “It’s called shedding. I can assure you that your little Chloe is not going bald.”

“But-”

Skyfire trotted to Knock Out with a meow, tail high. The queen turned to look down at him, then made a face and drew the small, shaggy black dog in her arms closer to her chest.

“I’m very sorry,” Knock Out told the queen, “but I do have other patients to attend to. I can recommend a good house cleaner if you’re worried about the state of your furniture, but Chloe is in fine health.”

He turned to Skyfire and bent over, placing his hands on his knees. “I suppose you’re here to see your friend?

Skyfire flicked the tip of his tail and mewed.

“Your wish is my command! Right this way, please.”

Knock Out led Skyfire and Prowl down a hall and into a different room from the one they had left Starscream in before. One wall was lined with cages, some of which were occupied. But the only thing Skyfire cared about was the high-pitched, rumbly meowing coming from a cage near the back of the room. He gave a meow of his own and dashed toward it as quickly as his leash would allow.

The crying ceased, then a dark face appeared on the other side of the bars. Starscream peered out at them, then rose to hook his forepaws over the bars and meowed.

“I thought you were going to sedate her?” Prowl said.

“We did,” Knock Out replied. “We just didn’t need it to last very long. It was an examination, not surgery.”

Starscream fell back to all fours, wobbling slightly on impact. But he recovered quickly and tried to push his head through the bars. Skyfire finally reached him and touched his nose to Starscream's, already purring. Starscream reached through the bars with a mew and pawed his fur.

“So,” Prowl said. “What did you find out?”

Knock Out made an amused sound. “Well, for starters, she’s a he.”

Skyfire looked up and meowed. It was about time someone figured that out.

“She- he is?” Prowl asked. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as can be, considering he has a nice, unaltered set of family jewels.”

Starscream paced along the bars, getting as close to the humans as he could, and yowled. Skyfire followed and poked his own paw through the bars, swiping at Starscream’s side. When Starscream looked at him, he flopped down on his side and flicked his tail, inviting him to play.

“I just… I was under the impression that toms don’t get along,” Prowl said.

“It depends on the hierarchy,” Knock Out replied. “If one is willing to submit to the other, and the dominant cat isn’t a bully, there’s really no cause for conflict in most circumstances. And Jetfire  _ is _ very easy-going for an intact male.”

Skyfire trilled and rolled onto his back, continuing to tap his tail tip on the floor. Starscream just stared at him, but he had fallen silent now.

“Anyway, that’s not all I found,” Knock Out continued. “In addition to being in pretty good shape for a stray, our little friend here has a microchip.”

Dread swept through Skyfire. He returned to his belly and lifted his head, watching the humans intently.

“Then he has an owner?” Prowl asked. “Were you able to find out who it is?”

“Better than that: I was able to contact him. Well, one of the interns contacted him, but I have the information.” Knock Out removed a sheet of paper from his coat pocket and unfolded it. “Ulchtar here is registered to a Mister Lance Cooper. He was adopted last winter, but Mr. Cooper only had him for a few months before his son decided he wasn’t fit to care for himself anymore, never mind a cat. He moved to a nursing home in June, and placed Ulchtar in his son’s care because he didn’t want such a young cat to be stuck in a room all day.”

Knock Out refolded the paper and frowned at Starscream. “Unfortunately, Ulchtar got out of the house three weeks later, during the Canada Day festivities, and ran off. Mr. Cooper’s son told him that he looked for Ulchtar, but couldn’t find him. How you can fail to find a Siamese with red eyes is anyone’s guess.”

“That depends on how hard he looked,” Prowl replied grimly. “In the strictest sense of the word, simply driving around the block would count as looking.”

“However hard he looked, Mr. Cooper was rather upset that he’d lost his cat,” Knock Out said. “It seems he got quite attached to the little fellow in the few months they spent together.”

“Maybe the attachment was mutual,” Prowl mused. “If Ulchtar wasn’t happy in his new home, he might have gone looking for his old one and gotten lost.”

“And for whatever reason, he decided to hang out around your house,” Knock Out finished. “That seems a likely course of events, yes. Though perhaps the appeal of your property isn’t such a mystery after all.”

Both humans looked down at Skyfire, who tilted his head and meowed. Starscream echoed the sound, and followed it up with a yowl.

Prowl sighed. “Do you have a number I can reach Mr. Cooper at?”

“I might,” Knock Out said evasively. “It depends on what you want to do with it.”

Prowl knelt beside Skyfire and scratched his ears, but his gaze was on Starscream. “I would like to make arrangements to return his cat to him.”


	8. Meet the Coopers

The ride home from the vet was only marginally quieter than the ride to get there had been. Skyfire still burrowed under the blanket with Starscream, but his purring was no longer meant to soothe. Now it was nothing but a quiet, desperate plea not to be left alone again.

When they got home, Prowl went no further than the entrance hallway before letting Starscream out of the carrier. Starscream darted out of the box and down the hall, then vanished into the sitting room. Skyfire wanted to follow him, but his leash held him back.

"Okay, okay," Prowl said. "At least let me get your harness before you go running off."

Skyfire flicked his tail irritably, but held still until the harness was removed. Once he was free, he shook himself and trailed after Starscream, though at a much more sedate pace.

He found him on the cat tower once more, crouched on the top platform. His tail flicked angrily and his ears were angled to the sides, but though he glared at Skyfire, he didn't object to his presence either. He just started grooming, ridding his fur of any lingering smells from the vet. Skyfire curled up on the next platform down, uninterested in bothering Starscream after the day's events. He just wanted to be close to him.

Eventually, Starscream shifted closer and leaned down over the edge of his platform to scent Skyfire's fur. He carefully hopped down onto Skyfire's level to get a better sniff, then began to lick the top of his head. Skyfire lay unresponsive for a few moments, then heaved a sigh and twisted to groom Starscream as well. If they were going to be separated, they might as well make the most of the time they had left.

  
  


It was late the next morning when the doorbell rang. Until that point, Starscream had been prowling the house, investigating everything he saw while Skyfire followed along behind. But when he heard the bell, Starscream ran for the sitting room, pausing in the doorway to stare down the hall at the front door. Skyfire joined him and stared at the door with equal trepidation. If that was Starscream’s clowder coming to retrieve him, then his and Skyfire’s time together was up.

Prowl emerged from the kitchen and Starscream darted into the sitting room. Skyfire stayed where he was, watching the door as Prowl opened it.

“Hey there!” the human on the porch said. “I’m looking for a Dilan Hendricks. Does he live here?”

“I am he,” Prowl replied, though his tone was oddly stiff.

The human extended a hand in some sort of greeting. “James Cooper, nice to meet you. I heard you have a cat here for me?”

“I believe I found your father’s cat, yes,” Prowl said. He closed his own hand around the other human’s, but pulled it back after only a moment. “The last I saw, he was in the living room.”

“Hey, that’s great,” the stranger said cheerfully. “I’ll just gather him up and be out of your hair, then.”

“Assuming he  _ is _ your father’s cat,” Prowl said, which seemed odd to Skyfire. They already knew who Starscream used to live with, so why was Prowl acting like he wasn’t sure?

“Unless you’ve managed to find another cat with red eyes running around, it definitely is,” the human said.

Prowl nodded slowly and stepped aside, allowing the stranger to enter the house. He was a short, red furred tom with pale skin, and a strut that reminded Skyfire of the crows who often hung out in the street. Unlike the crows, though, this human didn’t look very impressive. He was easily a head shorter than Prowl, who wasn’t very big for a tom. And even from a distance, he smelled like something sour.

“Nice cat,” the human said, noticing Skyfire. “That one yours?”

“Yes, that’s Jetfire,” Prowl replied. “If I’m honest, he’s the one who really found Ulchtar.”

“Big as he is, he probably thought Ulchtar was a squirrel,” the human said, making an amusement sound.

“Jetfire doesn’t hunt,” Prowl said, the stiffness back in his voice as he led the stranger down the hall.

“Yeah, everyone says that,” the human said with a wave of his hand. “They never want to hear about how their precious little balls of fur are killing machines.”

Prowl pressed his lips together, his expression stony. Skyfire stalked up to the human to catch his scent, though the name Powerglide was almost lost under the reek of whatever sour thing he’d been around. Powerglide paused to reach for him, but Skyfire shied back and darted past the humans into the sitting room.

“Not very friendly, is he?” Powerglide said.

“I would appreciate it if you ask for permission before you touch my cat,” Prowl replied curtly.

Powerglide didn’t reply, having caught sight of Starscream sitting on the lowest platform of the cat tower. Starscream had seen Powerglide too, and he clearly wasn’t happy about it; his ears were angled back and his body was low, as though he was facing off against an intruder.

“Speaking of not friendly,” Powerglide commented. “Sorry if he’s tried to bite you or anything. He’s pretty mean.”

“I’ve actually found him to be quite well-behaved, for a cat who’s lived on the streets for three months,” Prowl said. “There was some trouble getting him to the vet, but even the nicest cats don’t enjoy being forced into a cage.” He glanced down and added, “I notice you didn’t bring a carrier for him. Is it in your vehicle?”

“I don’t own one,” Powerglide replied, heading for Starscream. “Figured I’d just put him in the trunk.”

Starscream growled at him, fur fluffing out. Powerglide stopped, and Skyfire slunk along the wall, trying to get to Starscream while staying as far from the intruder as possible.

“You cannot put a cat in the trunk,” Prowl said, taking on the tone he used when Skyfire had done something bad. “He could overheat or get hurt, especially if he’s not in a carrier.”

“Yeah, but the alternative is that he runs loose in the car and makes me crash,” Powerglide said. “He’s distracting enough when he’s just screeching all the time.”

Starscream growled again, more loudly, and lashed his tail. Prowl glanced down at him, but didn’t tell him to stop.

“See, what did I tell you?” Powerglide asked. “Mean and loud. Next he’ll be yowling.”

“I suspect he will be, if you get any closer to him,” Prowl said. “He doesn’t seem to like you.”

“Cats don’t like anyone,” Powerglide scoffed. “They’re pretty selfish, you know.”

Skyfire came to a stop next to one of the tower posts and stared hard at Powerglide, back hunched slightly. Prowl folded his arms and glared down at Powerglide, who was watching the cats with disdain clear on his face.

“I have a question for you, Mr. Cooper,” Prowl said. “Why did your father leave Ulchtar in your care when you think so poorly of cats?”

“Because he’s a sentimental old man?” Powerglide shrugged. “He got the cat when mom died and didn’t want to give him up when he went to a home. So instead of keeping him at the home, he gave him to me. Probably hoped it would teach me to be ‘responsible’ or something.”

"Well, it clearly didn't work if you think you can transport a cat in the trunk of a vehicle."

"Look, he's not your cat," Powerglide snapped, rounding on Prowl. "What I do with him is my business, not yours."

Skyfire hissed at him. Powerglide looked back at him, and Starscream gave another growl.

“I think you should leave,” Prowl said.

Powerglide turned back to him, eyes narrowed. “Excuse me? You  _ called _ me here!”

“Yes, and I’m glad I did. Having met you, I think it would be best if I return your  _ father’s _ cat to him personally.”

"Why bother?" Powerglide demanded. "He'll just end up back with me anyway."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Prowl said grimly. "I believe I can make quite the convincing argument for adopting Ulchtar out to a family who cares about him rather than leaving him in the hands of such a careless individual."

Powerglide scowled at him, then snorted. "Fine, go ahead! I never wanted the little monster anyway."

This time, Skyfire was the one who growled. Powerglide cast another glance in his direction.

"I'll see you out," Prowl said, motioning at the door. Powerglide stalked past him, and Prowl followed. Skyfire hesitated, then trailed after them, body low.

Thankfully, Powerglide left without another word. Prowl locked the door behind him, then turned with a sigh and looked down at Skyfire.

"Thanks for the support back there," he said. "That man should not have pets."

Skyfire shook himself and looked back into the sitting room. Starscream was still on the tower and his fur was still standing up, but he had lowered himself into a crouch. Prowl moved up alongside Skyfire and looked in on Starscream as well, then shook his head.

“I think we could all use some time to cool down after that,” he said. “I’m going to make some coffee, and then some calls.”

He continued on to the kitchen. Skyfire watched him go, then approached Starscream, being careful not to move too quickly. Starscream lashed his tail, but didn’t object to his approach. Skyfire gripped the edge of the platform with his forepaws and sniffed Starscream’s face, prompting his ears to swivel back again. He smelled of nervousness and anger.

Skyfire left the tree and jumped into the window instead. A shiny red car was parked in front of the house, on the other side of the fence. Powerglide was climbing inside.

Skyfire stayed in the window and watched until long after the vehicle was out of sight.

  
  


“All right,” Prowl announced, returning to the sitting room. “I’ve contacted the home where Lance Cooper is staying and got permission to bring Ulchtar in. With any luck he’ll be willing to get back in the carrier. Jetfire, I want you to come along and see if you can keep him calm.”

At the sound of his name, Skyfire lifted his head from where he lay next to Starscream on the cat tower platform. Starscream stayed curled against his side, where he’d been since Skyfire returned to the tower. Prowl approached them quietly, carrier in hand, then looked down at Starscream and sighed.

“It would be too cruel to just put him in the carrier while he’s asleep, wouldn’t it?”

Skyfire flicked his tail up and curled it protectively around Starscream.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

Prowl carefully set the carrier on the floor, then headed for Skyfire’s bed to collect the usual blankets. Skyfire looked down at Starscream. He seemed so much smaller when he was curled up. Especially compared to Skyfire, whose fur was too long for such an illusion.

Skyfire began to groom him gently, hoping to ease him awake. Starscream stirred, then arched his back and stretched all four legs straight out. His limbs slowly drew back in as he relaxed, but his eyes stayed closed. He smelled content. Skyfire continued to groom him, though he wasn’t sure if it would help Starscream wake up or just lull him back to sleep.

If only they could wake up together like this all the time. There was no point to the wish, but Skyfire couldn’t help it. He missed Starscream already.

Prowl returned with an armful of fabrics and lined the bottom of the carrier with one of the blankets. When he was done he picked up the towel and carefully draped it over Starscream. Skyfire reluctantly pulled his head back to make room. Starscream gave a sleepy trill and lifted his own head, then shook it and blinked open his eyes.

“Easy,” Prowl murmured, gathering the towel around Starscream. “It’s okay. I’m just going to move you over here.”

Starscream gave a drawn out squeak of protest when he was lifted, like a growl that had no threat behind it. He dug his claws into the carpet coating the cat tree, but Prowl adjusted his grip and unhooked Starscream’s claws, one paw at a time. Starscream repeated the squeaky growl, this time sounding more annoyed, and began to squirm.

“Yes, I know,” Prowl said. “You don’t want to go back in the box. But I can’t take you back to your owner if you don’t. You remember him, don’t you? You must have been with him for four or five months, and I’ve seen nothing in your behavior to suggest he mistreated you. Surely you want to go back.”

He guided Starscream and the towel into the carrier as he spoke, and latched the door behind them. Starscream meowed his upset, though not as loudly as he had when they went to the vet. Even so, Skyfire stretched and hopped down to the floor, determined to stay as close to Starscream as possible for as long as possible.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Prowl warned, standing up. “I still need to get your harness on.”

Skyfire flicked an ear in acknowledgement as Prowl walked away, and sat down to sniff the carrier’s door. Starscream poked a foreleg through the bars and reached for him, pawing the thick fur on his chest. Skyfire sniffed his leg as well, then leaned in to scent his face. Surprisingly, he didn’t smell angry or scared now. He smelled… sad. Like he didn’t want to be separated either.

Skyfire curled up against the door. On the other side, Starscream did the same, head bobbing as he tried to fit it through the bars and get closer.

When Prowl returned with Skyfire’s harness, the two cats were huddled together in silence, heads resting against the bars on opposite sides of the door.

  
  


The ride to the nursing home was much quieter than the trip to the vet had been. Whether it was because Starscream knew where they were going or because the carrier was more familiar to him now, his still-frequent meows were less frantic than before. Skyfire burrowed under the blanket covering the carrier and purred for him either way. But he purred for himself too, trying to ease the growing ache in his chest.

When the car stopped and Prowl opened the back door to retrieve the cats, Skyfire only shook off enough of the blanket to give Prowl a sullen stare.

“Don’t give me that look,” Prowl told him. “You know we have to return him to his owner. You’d want to be back with me if you got lost, wouldn’t you?”

Skyfire shook his head, realigning fur that had gotten messed up by the blanket. Prowl sighed.

“Great. My cat hates me for doing the right thing.”

Skyfire allowed himself to be guided out of the car and into the large building before them without protest. As they walked, he heard a few humans cooing at him in that high-pitched way they often did, complimenting him and murmuring admiration to each other. He was used to such behavior, and enjoyed it when it came at a cat show. But this time he paid little attention to the humans around him, and only half-listened while Prowl explained the group’s reason for being there to a queen behind a desk. All he cared about was the meowing coming from the carrier Prowl held in his other hand.

The human behind the desk led them to a room, and knocked on the door before opening it. “Mr. Cooper,” she called. “You have a visitor! This young man here says he found your cat.”

“Well, now, don’t just leave him standin’ there,” a voice replied. “Send him in!”

The human stepped back, casting a smile at Prowl, and returned the way the group had come. Prowl took a deep breath, then led Skyfire into the room, using his shoulder to push the door further open.

The smell of the room was surprisingly similar to that of the vet, but it looked more like a bedroom. A white, sterile-scented bedroom with no furnishings beyond a dresser, an empty nightstand, and the bed itself. An unoccupied wheelchair sat by a wall, along with a couple of legged chairs. Even Prowl's little-used bedroom felt less abandoned than this one did.

Despite that, there was an elderly human tom sitting up in the bed.

"I apologize for barging in on you like this, Mr. Cooper," Prowl began, but the human cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"No need to apologize for returning somethin' to someone," he said. "If anything, I should apologize to you for makin' you come all this way out here."

"It was no trouble," Prowl said, approaching the bed. "I'm just doing what I hope someone else would do if my own cat went missing."

"And a fine cat he is." The human lowered his hand over the edge of the bed. Skyfire crept forward to sniff it. The human, Ironhide, smelled tired and not very healthy, but happy nevertheless. Probably because Starscream had been returned to him. Much as Skyfire wanted to dislike him for taking Starscream away, he couldn't do it.

He rubbed his head against Ironhide's hand, and the old human made an amused sound.

"What's his name?" Ironhide asked, scratching Skyfire's neck.

"That's Jetfire," Prowl replied, lifting the still-meowing carrier onto the nightstand. "And I'm Dilan Hendricks. It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Call me Lance," Ironhide said. "I get enough of that 'Mister' and 'sir' stuff around here already."

Prowl smiled slightly. "Lance. Would you like to see your cat?"

"More than anythin'."

Prowl obligingly folded back the blanket on the carrier. Skyfire couldn't see Starscream from the floor, but Ironhide's face softened and he extended a hand to the bars.

"Well, look at you," he murmured. "I'd recognize those eyes anywhere."

Skyfire couldn't handle not seeing. He leaped up on the edge of the bed and peered at the carrier, where he could just see a dark face and one paw.

"Jetfire-" Prowl began, but Ironhide just made another amused sound.

"Leave 'im be. He's not hurtin' anything."

Starscream meowed at Skyfire, but didn't move any closer to the door. Ironhide clicked his tongue, and Starscream quickly looked back at him.

"What's the matter, little guy?" Ironhide asked softly. "Don'cha remember me?"

He slowly reached for the latch and opened the door, keeping his other hand near the entrance. Starscream took a cautious step forward, then another, whiskers twitching as he scented the air. Ironhide stayed still, letting him take his time. After a few moments, Starscream closed the last of the space between them and sniffed the hand, head jerking back slightly every few breaths as though he expected to be grabbed.

Suddenly, he gave an excited chirrup and rubbed his head against the hand. A smile spread across Ironhide’s face as he turned his hand palm up. Starscream rubbed against his palm too, beginning to purr, and was rewarded by fingers scratching his ears.

“There ya go. You  _ do _ remember me, don’cha?”

Starscream meowed. Ironhide withdrew his hand, and Starscream leaped from the nightstand to the bed, then climbed into Ironhide's lap. Once there he began to circle, heedless of the fact that his paws kept slipping, and rose up slightly on his hind legs to meet the hand that returned to his head.

"Aww, look how big you've gotten," Ironhide said. "Seems like just yesterday I could fit you in one hand."

Starscream chirped and circled the other way, tail high and twitching. Then he reared up again and planted his forepaws on Ironhide's chest, stretching to rub his head on his jaw.

"Yeah, I missed you too," Ironhide said, settling both hands on Starscream's back. "You scared me when you ran off, you know."

Another chirp, then a meow.

"It's okay, I forgive you." Ironhide removed his hands, letting Starscream drop back to four paws, but continued to pet him. "It was those durn fireworks, wasn't it? They scared ya and that's why you ran off."

Meow. Tail flick.

"Yeah, I don't much care for 'em either. Reminds me too much of the war."

Prowl coughed slightly. "Would it be all right if I sat down for a moment?"

Ironhide looked surprised. "Now where are my manners? You go right ahead and pull up a seat. I'd be a poor excuse for a host if I made my guest stand."

Starscream gave a drawn out meow. Ironhide looked back at him, expression offended.

"Don't you be scoldin' me, young cat. You didn’t offer him a seat either.”

Starscream flicked his tail and sneezed, then curled up in the crook of Ironhide’s arm, still purring loudly. Ironhide made an amusement sound and continued to pet him.

Prowl drew up one of the chairs that lined the wall and sat down. “I hate to interrupt your reunion, but if you’d don’t mind, I’d like to talk about your son.”

Ironhide snorted. “The one who lost my cat, you mean? What about him?”

“When we found out where Ulchtar came from, I called James hoping to return him,” Prowl explained. “But he struck me as...”

“Careless?” Ironhide suggested. “Irresponsible? You can say it. I already know that boy is a disgrace to common sense.”

“Yes, well. I think potentially dangerous might be closer to the mark. When he arrived, both Ulchtar and Jetfire were growling at him. And while I don’t know Ulchtar very well, I can tell you that Jetfire is one of the most mild-mannered cats I’ve ever known. He doesn’t growl at anyone.”

Skyfire mewed in agreement, settling into a loaf by Ironhide’s legs. Starscream looked at him, but didn’t leave the lap he’d claimed.

“I dunno if I’d call James dangerous,” Ironhide said slowly. “Except dangerously negligent, maybe. He’s claimed he tried to find Ulchtar after he got out, but I don’t see how you could miss a cat with red eyes. Even if he was hidin’, all it’d take is a few posters to find someone who did see him.”

“I did wonder how much effort he put into his search, for that same reason,” Prowl said. “But my main concern is whether something like this will happen again. He showed up thinking he could just take Ulchtar in the trunk of his car, and I don’t feel right putting any animal in a situation where they have to depend on someone like that.”

Ironhide sighed heavily. “I know. I shouldn’ta left Ulchtar with him in the first place, an’ I regretted it after he lost him. I just didn’t want to give the little guy up, y’know? He’s family.”

Prowl reached out to scratch Skyfire’s ears. “I understand that. But isn’t there anyone else who could take him in? A friend or another relative?”

Ironhide shook his head. “My wife and I moved here from the US years ago, and only had the one kid. Any remainin’ family is still down south. And when you get older and all your friends start dyin’, some folks just don’t see the point in makin’ new ones. Hell, if I’da known I was gonna end up in here so soon, I wouldn’ta taken Ulchtar in.”

Starscream lifted his head and meowed. Ironhide rubbed his knuckles along his cheek, prompting Starscream to lean into it.   
  
“Now don’t you worry none. I don’t regret it. Just wish I could give you a better home.”

“You could still adopt him out,” Prowl said. “He’s skittish after three months on the streets, but he seems like he would be a very affectionate cat once he’s calmed down.”

“He’s more than affectionate,” Ironhide said with amusement. “He’s a Siamese. It’s in the breed to want every minute of time you can spare, and a few you can’t.” His expression fell and he sighed again. “All the more reason why I shouldn’ta left him with James. He was probably starvin’ for attention the whole time he was there.”

Starscream mewed, climbing back to his paws and stretching up to bat Ironhide’s face. He gave another, sadder meow and Ironhide nodded, stroking his back.

“Sounds just awful,” he said sympathetically. “Imagine anyone not having the time for a sweet little kitten like you.”

Skyfire flicked his tail in amusement. ‘Kitten’ was not the word he would have used to describe Starscream. Sweet, maybe - when he wanted to be - but definitely not kitten.

“I’ve heard that Siamese need a lot of attention from their humans to stay happy,” Prowl said. “Would another cat be a suitable replacement for human interaction?”

Skyfire looked at him in surprise. Prowl was looking back at him, brows furrowed.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Ironhide replied. “Would have to be a cat who was willing to spend a lot of time with them, of course. If they aren’t getting the attention they want, they’ll feel neglected no matter how many other pets are in the house.”

Prowl nodded slowly. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to make a proposal that might fix your problem with Ulchtar, and perhaps a problem of mine as well.”

“By all means, go on and share it.”

Prowl laced his fingers together and took a deep breath. “Before Ulchtar started hanging around my property, Jetfire was a bit… depressed. I didn’t notice it at the time, but looking back on it, I think he was feeling lonely. It’s just been the two of us for quite a while, so he doesn’t have anyone to play with when I’m not home. I was thinking about getting another cat to keep him company, but… During the couple days Ulchtar spent in the house, before we came here, he and Jetfire have been almost inseparable.”

Ironhide raised a brow. “Are you offerin’ to adopt my cat?”

Skyfire lifted his head.

“I would be willing to pay you, of course,” Prowl replied. “And if you still don’t want to give him up, I understand that. But it seems like it would be a good solution for both our cats’ problems. And,” he added dryly, “I’m pretty sure Ulchtar has been all but living in my yard anyway.”

Ironhide looked at Starscream, who had settled back into his lap. “Ya don’t sell family,” he said. “Even if family happens to be a cat.” He looked back at Prowl. “I don’t want your money, Mr. Hendricks. But you seem like a good guy, so I’d still be willin’ to let Ulchtar live with ya. On one condition.”

“Dilan, please,” Prowl said. “And what condition is that?”

Ironhide smiled. “You bring him back to visit me sometimes. Family is s’posed to visit family.”

Skyfire sat up with a meow and stared at Prowl, tail swishing. Starscream copied him, but with an extra chirp for good measure. Ironhide made a quiet sound of amusement, but Skyfire ignored him.

“That sounds like a reasonable condition,” Prowl said.

Ironhide held out a hand, in what Skyfire had assumed was a human greeting, and said, “Then you got yourself a deal.”

Prowl shook the proffered hand with a smile. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

Joy swept through Skyfire in a wave of warmth. He shoved himself to his paws with a trill, tail held high and curled happily, then trotted up the bed to Starscream. Starscream leaned forward to meet him, and Skyfire could barely contain his excitement enough to touch noses with him. Both cats were purring and both humans were making their strange amusement sounds, but Skyfire didn’t care.

Starscream was coming home with them. He was coming home with them and this time he was coming to stay. Skyfire would never be alone again.

“I do have one question, though,” Prowl said. “If you had to give him up in June, Ulchtar would have been more than old enough to get fixed. Why didn’t you do it?”

“You know, I was going to,” Ironhide mused, “but he never really seemed to take an interest in the ladies. One time this yowlin’ feral cat came right up to him and presented herself, and he high-tailed it out of there like a dog after a stick. It was the darndest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Prowl made a humming noise and frowned at Skyfire. Skyfire just flicked his tail at him and began grooming Starscream. The new member of the clowder.


	9. Warmth

Skyfire peered out from behind the couch, body low and tail tip flicking. Starscream was sitting at the base of the needle-tree that had been set up in a corner of the room, but for once he wasn’t trying to climb it, or play with the shiny balls that hung from the branches. He was just sitting there, drinking from the bowl of sweet water the tree was in. Apparently oblivious to Skyfire’s presence behind him.

Skyfire shifted his weight and wiggled, preparing to charge. The room was silent save for the quiet  _ plip-plip  _ of water being lapped up, but Skyfire didn’t need any sounds to mask his approach. He wasn’t planning on a stealth attack.

Finally, Starscream sat up, licking water droplets from his whiskers. Skyfire exploded from behind the couch, paws thudding against the floor. Starscream spun around, ears folding back, and leaned away as Skyfire stopped and raised a paw. Skyfire batted several times at Starscream’s face, and Starscream opened his mouth in a silent hiss, taking a swipe at Skyfire in return. Then Skyfire charged away again, tail high, and he heard a jingle of collar tags as Starscream came after him.

They ran through the empty house and into the sitting room, where Skyfire bounded to the top of the cat tower. He whirled around and swatted Starscream, keeping him from coming any higher. Starscream rose up on his haunches, lashing out with both paws while Skyfire defended himself with one. But after a moment he dropped back to all fours and sat there, staring up at Skyfire. Skyfire stared back, flat on his belly. Both cats’ tails lashed slowly.

Starscream rose up on his hind legs and wrapped his forelimbs around Skyfire’s neck, closing his teeth on thick fur. Skyfire twisted, smacking him with a paw until he let go. Then they resumed sitting and staring, ears and tails flicking.

Eventually Starscream ended the staring contest and hopped to the next platform down, vanishing from sight. Skyfire gazed after him, listening for any further sounds, but heard nothing.

Cautiously, Skyfire leaned down to peer under his own perch. He only had a moment to register Starscream sitting below him before he was attacked. Skyfire quickly retreated and Starscream jumped back onto his original platform, where they exchanged another quick flurry of blows. Then Starscream retreated again, but this time Skyfire leaned back down to watch him.

The distant rattle of a doorknob distracted both of them from their play. For a moment, they both sat frozen, listening. Then Starscream barreled down the tower and into the hall, and Skyfire followed close behind.

“Hello, cats,” Prowl said, stomping snow off his boots as he entered the house.

Skyfire raised his tail with a meow of greeting. Starscream shot past Prowl and out the door.

“The snow is still there, Ulchtar,” Prowl added without so much as a glance back. Behind him, Jazz gave a loud bark of amusement.

Skyfire trotted up next to Prowl, and purred when Prowl bent to pet him. Outside, Starscream stood on the porch, ears angled to the sides and tail flicking in irritation. Beyond him, moonlight shone down on an expanse of glittering white, broken only by deep blue shadows.

“I’ve got him,” Jazz said, scooping Starscream from the porch. Starscream gave a high-pitched grunt of protest as he was bundled against Jazz’s chest.

“Sorry, Ulchtar,” Jazz said. “It’s too cold out here for a little kitty.”

He followed Prowl’s lead in stomping snow off his boots and closed the door, cradling Starscream in one arm.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” Prowl told Starscream, “but the snow is going to be there for at least a couple months yet. That means if you go outside, it’s going to be cold and wet, and you’re not going to like it. And if you stay out for long, you are probably going to get sick.”

Starscream lashed his tail and looked down at Skyfire.

“Jetfire gets to go outside because his fur is long and thick,” Prowl said. “You don’t even have an undercoat.”

“Have you considered getting him one of those little cat sweaters?” Jazz asked.

Prowl snorted, shrugging out of his coat. “If I tried to put one of those on him, he would kill me and then destroy the sweater. I can’t even get him to stop taking his collar off.”

“I’f he doesn’t like it, then why not take it off?” Jazz asked, stroking Starscream with his free hand. “He’s got a chip and everything.”

Prowl gave Starscream a flat stare. “Because  _ then _ he cries until I put it back on.”

Skyfire meowed, reminding Prowl that he was still there and ready for dinner. Prowl sighed. “All right, all right, I’m coming. Ulchtar, do you want your dinner?”

Starscream perked his ears and squirmed in Jazz’s hold until he could leap to the floor. Then he galloped past Skyfire with an excited chirp, pausing in the kitchen doorway to circle and trill. Skyfire caught up with him and sniffed his face. He smelled impatient and eager, and just a little like gravy. It made Skyfire happy.

Prowl walked by and both cats followed, meowing and weaving around both him and each other.

“Oh for goodness sake,” Prowl grumbled. “It’s like you two  _ want _ me to step on you.”

Starscream mewed indignantly.

Eventually, Prowl was able to retrieve a can of food, at which point the cats abandoned him to dash for their bowls, which had been placed side by side after Skyfire refused to eat without Starscream.

“Ulchtar, get your head out of the way.”

Starscream stuck his face in the bowl at the same time that Prowl dumped a spoonful of food into it, and ended up with a smear of gravy between his ears. Prowl sighed.

“You are so lucky Jetfire is here to clean you up all the time,” he said, spooning Skyfire’s share into his bowl. Starscream ignored them both, too busy digging into the food that had made it into his own dish.

Skyfire made quick work of his food, then went on to lick the gravy and a few flakes of tuna off Starscream’s head. Starscream flicked an ear, but otherwise ignored him, too busy lapping every last drop out of his bowl. When he was done there, he went on to do the same to Skyfire’s dish, which still had some gravy smeared around the edge. Skyfire had left it there on purpose.

When Skyfire was satisfied that Starscream was clean, he curled up on the arm of the couch and listened to the quiet chatter of the humans in the kitchen while watching Starscream paw at his collar. It only took a few moments for him to pull it far enough from his neck to catch the buckle in his mouth, and then the collar fell to the floor. Starscream shook his head, scratched the side of his neck, then flopped down next to his collar and batted it under the couch. Task completed, he trotted off to the kitchen.

Skyfire closed his eyes and began to purr as Starscream started up a plaintive meowing.

  
  


“All right, I found it,” Prowl said, dragging the collar out from under the couch. He pointed one end of the strap at Starscream, who sat next to him, and added, “I would swear you do these things on purpose.”

Starscream chirped and hopped onto Prowl’s shoulders, balancing with practiced ease.

“I hope you realize I can’t put this back on you while you’re up there.”

Another chirp. Starscream crossed behind Prowl’s head to crouch on his opposite shoulder and stretched down, reaching a paw for the collar.

“I hope  _ you _ realize he just does it for attention,” Jazz said. Skyfire, who had climbed into his lap when he’d sat down on the couch, meowed his agreement.

“Whether it’s for attention or just to punish me for being gone all day, I’m still convinced that he does it on purpose,” Prowl said. He raised his free hand to grab Starscream, but Starscream drew back onto his shoulder perch and mewed. “Could you give me a hand here?” Prowl added.

Jazz raised his hands and let them fall on either side of Skyfire. “Sorry, man. I’m trapped under twenty-five pounds of cat.” To Skyfire he added, “You’ll need to go on a diet if you get much bigger.”

Skyfire blinked up at him and purred. Starscream meowed more insistently.

“All right, all right.” Prowl slowly climbed to his feet, Starscream still balanced on his shoulder, and shifted to sit beside Jazz. “There. Are you happy now?”

Starscream chirped and jumped into Prowl’s lap, then stretched to sniff Skyfire’s face. Prowl took advantage of the movement to loop the collar around his neck and buckle it. “And now you’re properly dressed again. You can stop crying.”

Starscream sneezed in Skyfire’s face. Skyfire folded his ears back.

“Don’t look at him like that,” Prowl chided. “It’s not like you two aren’t swapping saliva all the time anyway.”

Jazz made an amused sound and folded his hands behind his head. “So you’ve finally noticed, have you?”

Prowl frowned at him. “Noticed what?”

“That your cats are gay.”

Prowl opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Starscream rose up on his hind legs, one forepaw braced on Prowl’s shoulder, and poked the other into his mouth.

Jazz burst into a series of amused barks that shook his whole body. Skyfire looked up at him in alarm, but kept an ear tilted toward the spluttering Prowl.

“Do  _ not _ do that,” Prowl said, having apparently escaped the curious paw. Starscream meowed in protest.

“Oh man,” Jazz panted. “That was amazing.”

“That was disgusting,” Prowl muttered.

Skyfire shook his head, but decided that Jazz was done shaking and resettled.

“And what was that about the cats being gay?” Prowl demanded.

Jazz rolled his shoulders, seemingly not as done moving as Skyfire had hoped. “Oh, you know. Neither of them like girls, they sleep together, they bathe together. Sounds pretty gay to me.”

“Two of those things are literally just cats being cats,” Prowl said.

Starscream leaned over to groom Skyfire’s face. Skyfire shook his head, then sat up and leaned over Starscream, climbing half into Prowl’s lap - and draping a forelimb over Starscream - before taking over to groom Starscream instead. Starscream shook his own head, but Skyfire stubbornly kept licking.

“And the arguments over who gets to be on top?” Jazz asked.

“Are also cats being cats,” Prowl said firmly.

“Suit yourself,” Jazz said. “But whatever they are, they certainly aren’t straight.”

Starscream twisted in Skyfire’s grip to start licking him again. Skyfire allowed it, but didn’t let him go, or stop grooming.

“I hope you two realize I still have dishes to do,” Prowl said.

“They’re cats, Dilan,” Jazz teased. “They don’t care.” He leaned over Skyfire to grab the TV remote off the coffee table. “Come on, take the evening off and watch a sappy Christmas movie with me. I came over here to make sure you don’t work through the entire holiday, not to watch you do dishes.”

“I’m not working the  _ entire _ holiday,” Prowl countered. “I’ve already made arrangements to take Ulchtar to visit Lance on Christmas morning. And my parents have made me promise to visit them.”

“And you’re spending tonight with me,” Jazz said cheerfully. “Now, what do you wanna watch?”

“A sappy Christmas movie, apparently,” Prowl sighed. “Why do you like them so much when every plot is exactly the same?”

Jazz moved a hand to scratch Skyfire’s ears. “Oh, I dunno. The familiarity? The happy endings? The joy of watching a busy workaholic find love and happiness thanks to Christmas and a dashing young man?”

“That last example was strangely specific.”

“What do you think, Jetfire?” Jazz asked. “Do you wanna watch a sappy movie? With romance and a happy ending?”

Skyfire finally stopped his assault on Starscream’s ears to tilt his head and meow.

“I don’t think they’ve got any about cats,” Jazz said. “But there are a lot of them with snow, trees, and good food.”

On the last word, Skyfire perked up his ears. Starscream wiggled under him and squirmed free, then shook himself.

“Food it is!” Jazz said. “Let’s find a nice bakery romance. Or maybe a cookie bake-off.”

“Do any of these movies end  _ without _ the heroine giving up her career for love?” Prowl asked.

“Yeah, some of them,” Jazz said. “The ones where she falls in love with a workaholic and gets him to make time for love, usually.”

Prowl sighed and ran a hand down Starscream’s back. “If you’re going to ask cats what they want to watch, don’t you think you should ask all of them?”

Jazz lifted a shoulder. “Sure. What do you say, Ulchtar? Meow once for sappy romance.”

Starscream yawned and circled around next to Skyfire, curling up in a tight, purring bundle against his side.

“Well, that was a ringing endorsement,” Prowl said drily.

“Really?” Jazz said. “You meow pretty much any time someone says anything, then when it matters you just go to sleep?”

“I don’t think the planet will stop spinning if we don’t watch a holiday romance tonight,” Prowl replied. “That said, I suppose it won’t cause me irreparable damage to watch one either.”

“Is that your charming way of saying go ahead and put one on?”

“If you must.”

Jazz grinned and turned on the TV. “That’s good enough for me!”

Prowl sighed and reached for Starscream, gently stroking his side while Skyfire got comfortable. Once he was settled, he curled his tail around Starscream and laid his head on Prowl’s leg, purring softly. Starscream’s own purr had faded, but it was still there, rumbling in time with his slow breaths.

It was hard to imagine that there had been a time when they couldn’t lie together like this. A time when they could only meet in the evenings and Prowl hadn’t wanted Starscream anywhere near Skyfire. When Skyfire had spent his days alone. It all seemed so far away now, like the cold outside.

Skyfire heaved a contented sigh and closed his eyes, listening to the quiet chatter of humans and savoring the soft warmth of the small body curled against his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays, everyone. <3


End file.
